A medical instrument for manipulating, in particular retracting tissue or an organ in the human or animal body, comprises an elongated shaft (12) having a distal end portion (16), and a working element (30) arranged at the distal end portion (16) of the shaft (12). The working element (30) has a plurality of magnetically acting elements (32a, 32b, 32c) each generating a magnetic field, wherein the magnetically acting elements (32a, 32b, 32c) are arranged in-line along a longitudinal working element axis (35) of the working element (30). (Fig 1)
