Patent ID: 8412350

Claim:
A method of deploying an implantable medical electrical lead for stimulating a nerve from within an adjacent vessel, the method comprising: collapsing an expandable lead anchor having a first end coupled to a distal portion of a medical electrical lead body at a first location and a second end coupled to the distal portion of the lead body at a second location distal to the first location into a radially collapsed configuration, wherein the distal portion of the lead body includes a plurality of conductors extending within the lead body from a proximal end thereof toward a distal end thereof, with each conductor being coupled to one of a plurality of individual ring electrodes, the plurality of individual ring electrodes longitudinally spaced along a length of the distal portion of the lead body and located thereon between the first and the second locations, each of the plurality of individual ring electrodes being adapted to transvascularly deliver an electrical pulse to a nerve to be stimulated, the distal portion extending along and contacting an exterior of the expandable lead anchor; guiding the collapsed lead anchor coupled to the distal portion of the lead body to a location within a vessel adjacent the nerve to be stimulated; and causing or allowing the expandable lead anchor to expand from the radially collapsed configuration to a radially expanded configuration to urge the distal portion of the lead body including the plurality of individual ring electrodes located thereon into contact with a wall of the vessel in which the lead is delivered so as to secure and stabilize the distal portion of the lead body in the vessel.