Patent ID: 8150533

Claim:
A method of fabricating a stimulation lead adapted to apply stimulation pulses to tissue of a patient, the method comprising: providing a pre-formed lead body of insulative material comprising a proximal portion and a distal portion, the lead body defining a longitudinal direction from the proximal portion to the distal portion, wherein a plurality of conductors are wound about a central axis of the lead body in a helical arrangement such that respective turns of each conductor are adjacent to turns of other conductors in a repeating pattern from the proximal portion to the distal portion; creating a plurality of grooves by removing insulative material from the pre-formed lead body near the distal portion of the lead body at a plurality of locations by applying laser energy to insulative material of the lead body, wherein a respective groove is formed by the removing in the lead body at each of the plurality of locations that substantially follows a helical path of a respective conductor of the plurality of conductors, each groove being of a depth to expose less than half of a single turn of its respective conductor without exposing other conductors, each groove being created in a diagonal orientation relative to the longitudinal direction of the lead body; providing a portion of a respective elongated conductive element within each groove in electrical contact with the exposed conductor in the groove; extending other portions of the respective elongated conductive elements outside of the grooves; and placing ring electrodes about the distal portion of the lead body and in electrical contact with each of the elongated conductive elements.