Patent ID: 8454588

Claim:
A method of adjusting the curvature of the esophagus of a human being during a therapeutic procedure in a treatment area outside of the esophagus, comprising: positioning within the esophagus an elongate body having a distal tip, a controlled curvature section having a length that is less than the length of the thoracic portion of the esophagus, a first flexible section proximal to the controlled curvature section, a second flexible section distal to the controlled curvature section, and a telescoping section distal to the controlled curvature section; anchoring a distal portion of the telescoping section within the esophagus; withdrawing the controlled curvature section proximally to extend the telescoping section from within the second flexible section to place at least a portion of the controlled curvature section within the thoracic esophagus; and adjustably controlling the curvature of the controlled curvature section to increase the distance between the esophagus and a treatment area outside of the esophagus without adjustably controlling the curvature of the first flexible section and second flexible section.