Patent ID: 7949409

Claim:
An intravascular lead adapted to be deployed to a stimulation site within an internal jugular vein having a vessel wall adjacent a vagus nerve, the lead comprising: a lead body including a proximal end adapted to be connected to a pulse generator and a bifurcated distal portion for securing and stabilizing the lead in the vessel, the bifurcated distal portion comprising at least one bifurcation point and a first elongated member and a second elongated member, the first and second elongated members branching away and extending distally from the at least one bifurcation point, the first elongated member forming a first spiral and the second elongated member forming a second spiral, wherein the first and second spirals are congruent, anti-parallel spirals having a same longitudinal axis forming a double helix and wherein the spirals are adapted to transition from a collapsed configuration for inserting the lead through a patient's vasculature system to an expanded configuration, wherein in the expanded configuration the spirals have a predetermined effective outer diameter ranging from about 5 to about 50% greater than the inner diameter of the internal jugular vein and are adapted to frictionally engage the vessel wall of the vessel in which the distal portion is deployed so as to impart a lateral force on the vessel wall to urge the vessel wall in a direction towards the vagus nerve; a plurality of conductors extending within the lead body from the proximal end to the distal end; a plurality of electrodes adapted to deliver an electrical pulse transvascularly to the nerve located on the distal portion, each individual electrode comprising a masked portion and an unmasked portion and coupled to an individual conductor such that each electrode is individually addressable, wherein when the distal portion is expanded, the unmasked portion of at least one electrode is located on an outer circumference of at least one spiral and is adapted to be oriented in a direction towards the vagus nerve and the masked portion is located on an inner circumference of the at least one spiral and is adapted to be oriented away from the vagus nerve.