Patent ID: 8777967

Claim:
An apparatus for securing an anchor to adjacent body cavities in the gastrointestinal tract comprising: a needle with proximal and distal end portions, the needle including a hollow needle body and a detachable needle tip having a sharpened end; a stylet positioned coaxially inside the hollow needle body, wherein the stylet includes a lumen; a connecting element coupled to the detachable needle tip at one end, wherein the needle is configured to be inserted through a wall of a first body cavity and through a wall of a second body cavity and the stylet is advanceable to separate the needle tip from the hollow needle body so that the needle is configured to be withdrawn to leave behind a portion of the connecting element and the needle tip in the second body cavity; an anchoring element having proximal and distal end portions, the distal end portion of the anchoring element attached to the proximal end of the connecting element, the anchoring element capable of being pulled through the first and second body cavity walls by the connecting element, the distal end portion of the anchoring element coupled to the proximal end portion of the anchoring element to form a loop; and a dilating element positioned between the proximal end of the connecting element and the distal end of the anchoring element, the dilating element sized to dilate a tissue tunnel so that the anchoring element is configured to be drawn through the tunnel by the connecting element.