Patent ID: 8080020

Claim:
A method of creating a plication in the tissue wall of a body cavity, which comprises: providing a distal end of a shaft of a medical instrument with a proximally facing end effector, the shaft having a shaft axis, the end effector having a clevis with a jaw portion offset from the shaft axis in an offset direction wherein a shaft-effector plane is formed between the offset portion and the axis of the shaft, the jaw portion directing two opposing jaws separate from the shaft in a proximal direction, the jaws operable to actuate in an actuation plane at a non-zero angle to the shaft-effector plane; inserting the shaft with the proximally facing end effector and proximally facing jaws through a body lumen and into the body cavity in a first direction; retracting the shaft of the instrument in a second direction that is different from the first direction; contacting the end effector against a tissue wall; and plicating a portion of the tissue wall with the end effector.