Patent ID: 7037305

Claim:
A medical instrument effective to assist in positioning an internal organ during a surgical procedure, comprising: a housing; a tissue gasping element appended to the housing and having first and second opposed tissue penetrating claws selectively movable about a pivot point between an open position and a closed position, the first and second opposed tissue penetrating claws being biased to one of the open and closed positions, and being configured to penetrate tissue while moving from the open position to the closed position; first and second opposed actuating members mated to the housing and effective to move the tissue grasping element between the open and closed positions, each actuating member extending from an opening formed in the housing; a biasing element extending between the first and second opposed actuating members in house housing and adapted to bias the first and second tissue penetrating claws to one of the open arid closed positions; and a flexible member having a portion secured to the housing and at least one free end that is selectively fastenable to a support.