Patent ID: 7359755

Claim:
A method of implanting a paddle style electrical stimulation lead to enable electrical stimulation of nerve tissue, comprising: inserting a needle into tissue; positioning a guide wire through the needle into a desired location relative to the nerve tissue; removing the needle; forming a tract for the paddle style electrical stimulation lead by advancing an introducer along the guide wire to a desired location, the introducer comprising an outer sheath and inner penetrator removably housed within the outer sheath, the inner penetrator including a tip end having a cross-sectional shape and size substantially conforming to a cross-sectional shape and size of the guide wire, a body region having a cross-sectional shape and size substantially conforming to a cross-sectional shape and size of the outer sheath, and one or more transition regions substantially connecting the tip end with the body region, at least a portion of the one or more transition regions flexing to substantially follow flexures in the guide wire during advancement of the inner penetrator along the guide wire, wherein the one or more transition regions include a tip transition region extending from the tip end of the inner penetrator at least a portion of the distance toward the body region of the inner penetrator, and during the advancement of the introducer along the guide wire, the tip transition region flexes to substantially follow flexures in the guide wire, the tip transition region being formed from a particular material and having a wall thickness that decreases toward the tip end of the inner penetrator; removing the inner penetrator; leaving the outer sheath substantially in position; and inserting the paddle style electrical stimulation lead through the outer sheath until the paddle style electrical stimulation lead is positioned proximate the nerve tissue.