Patent ID: 8652133

Claim:
An apparatus for renal denervation, the apparatus comprising: a catheter configured for intravascular placement within a renal artery of a human patient; an inflatable balloon at a distal portion of the catheter, wherein the inflatable balloon is configured to vary between a delivery configuration and a deployed configuration sized and shaped to fit within the renal artery; and a plurality of electrodes attached to the inflatable balloon, wherein each electrode comprises at least one pair of bipolar contacts, wherein, when the inflatable balloon is in the deployed configuration, the electrodes are offset from each other and positioned at different lengthwise positions along the balloon to define, at least in part, a helical pattern about the balloon, wherein the electrodes are configured to deliver thermal radio frequency (RF) energy across an interior wall of the renal artery to target renal nerves to achieve at least partial renal denervation.