Patent ID: 8066702

Claim:
A method of activating electrodes in an electrical stimulation lead that transmits RF energy to tissue surrounding the lead thereby ablating the tissue, said method comprising: providing a stimulation lead having a plurality of electrodes spaced longitudinally along the stimulation lead, said plurality of electrodes including at least a distal electrode, a proximal electrode, and an intermediate electrode positioned between, and electrically isolated from the proximal end distal electrodes; providing a plurality of electrical conductors to interconnect said plurality of electrodes to an RF generator; providing a temperature-sensing element adjacent each of said plurality of electrodes for sensing a temperature at respective locations of the electrodes; sequentially energizing the plurality of electrodes in a mono-polar configuration to generate a generally spherical shaped lesion surrounding each of the electrodes, thereby producing corresponding proximal, intermediate and distal lesions; energizing the intermediate and distal electrode in a bipolar configuration thereby generating a fourth lesion which fills in a space that may be present between the distal lesion and the intermediate lesion; and energizing the proximal electrode and intermediate electrode in a bipolar configuration thereby generating a fifth lesion that fills in another space between said proximal lesion and said intermediate lesion, wherein collectively said lesions produce a generally cylindrical lesion of a selected length and diameter.