Patent ID: 7803167

Claim:
A method of applying suture to an opening, comprising: inserting an elongate body into the opening; extending at least one arm from the elongate body on a distal side of the opening, the at least one arm holding a suture portion; advancing at least one needle from the elongate body from the proximal side of the opening, through tissue adjacent the opening, and into engagement with the suture portion held by the at least one arm; and retracting the at least one needle in a distal to proximal direction, pulling the suture portion proximally through the opening; wherein the needle is advanced by moving an actuator from a first position to a second position and is biased to retract to its first position, and wherein the at least one needle automatically retracts once the actuator reaches the second position such that the steps of advancing and retracting the at least one needle are both performed as the actuator moves from the first position to the second position.