Surgical fastener deployment system

A tissue fastener for use in an endoscopic deployment system, comprising:

• a tubular structure defining a proximal end, a distal end, a side wall extending from the proximal end to the distal end, an axial bore extending from the proximal end to the distal end, a longitudinal slot extending through the side wall along a portion of the length of the axial bore, and a crossbar bridging across the longitudinal slot,
• a distal portion of the tubular structure defining a plurality of jaw arms that are resiliently biased outwardly relative to each other.

A tissue fastener deployable from a surgical fastener deployment system in conjunction with suture, consisting of:

• a unitary element having a blunt proximal end and a sharp distal end, a peripheral side wall between the proximal and distal ends, a longitudinal axial bore extending between the proximal and distal ends and sized to receive the suture, a longitudinal slot from the bore through the side wall, and a suture retainer at a longitudinally proximal location along the side wall.

A train of tissue fasteners deployable from a surgical fastener deployment system in conjunction with suture, the train of fasteners comprising:

• a plurality of like fasteners arranged end to end, the fasteners including a distalmost fastener and relatively proximal fasteners,
• each fastener consisting of a unitary element having proximal and distal ends, a peripheral side wall between the proximal and distal ends, a longitudinal axial bore extending between the proximal and distal ends and sized to receive the suture, a longitudinal slot from the bore through the side wall, and a suture retainer at a longitudinally proximal location bridging the longitudinal slot,
• a suture having a distal end retained relative to the suture retainer of the distalmost fastener, and a length extending through the axial bore at the proximal end of the distalmost fastener and through the axial bores of each of the relatively proximal fasteners.