Patent ID: 9707035
Date: 2017-07-18
CPC Classifications: A61B,A61N,H05K

Claim:
1. A method for catheter-based renal neuromodulation, the method comprising: intravascularly positioning a catheter in a reduced profile delivery configuration within a renal artery of a human patient and adjacent to renal nerves that innervate a kidney of the patient; transforming an expandable electrode at a distal region of the catheter from the reduced profile delivery configuration to a treatment configuration, wherein the expandable electrode comprises a helical configuration, and wherein, in the treatment configuration, the expandable electrode is sized and shaped such that the helical electrode contacts an inner wall of the renal artery of the patient; and delivering an electric field between the expandable electrode and a ground pad coupled to an exterior of the patient, thereby thermally inhibiting neural communication along the renal nerves, wherein delivering the electric field and thermally inhibiting neural communication along the renal nerves results in a therapeutically beneficial reduction in blood pressure of the patient.