Patent ID: 8603078

Claim:
A surgical method, comprising: positioning a surgical support system on an exterior tissue surface of a patient such that an instrument guide port of the surgical support system is positioned a distance remote from the tissue surface, the instrument guide port defining a pivot point at the distance remote from the tissue surface; advancing a surgical instrument through the instrument guide port such that a shaft of the surgical instrument extends through a tissue opening formed in the tissue surface to position a distal end of the instrument at a first position within a body cavity underlying the tissue surface; and angularly adjusting the instrument relative to the surgical support system such that the instrument pivots at the pivot point to move the pivot point in two planes of motion and to move the distal end of the instrument in three planes of motion from the first position within the body cavity to a second, different position within the body cavity, the pivoting of the instrument being limited to movement in the two planes of motion.