Patent ID: 8500742

Claim:
A percutaneous method of treatment of an interior of a mammalian vertebral body, comprising the steps of: a) forming an opening through a wall of a mammalian vertebral body; b) advancing a cannula through said opening in said wall of the mammalian vertebral body, wherein said cannula extends into the interior of the mammalian vertebral body; c) with said cannula in position in said opening of said mammalian vertebral body, engaging said cannula with an elongated tool formed of a shape memory material and comprising a preformed S-shape, and advancing said elongated tool along said cannula, wherein said preformed S-shape of said elongated tool is deformed by said cannula while said preformed S-shape engages said cannula; d) continuing to advance said elongated tool along said cannula until a portion of said elongated tool comprising said preformed S-shape exits said cannula into the interior of the mammalian vertebral body, whereupon the preformed S-shape of said elongated tool assumes said preformed S-shape as said elongated tool exits said cannula in the interior of the mammalian vertebral body; e) positioning said elongated tool as desired within the interior of the mammalian vertebral body by advancing and retracting said elongated tool relative to said cannula and advancing and retracting said cannula relative to a wall of said vertebral body; e) performing a procedure using said elongated tool; and f) withdrawing said elongated tool from the interior of the mammalian vertebral body.