Patent ID: 8100896

Claim:
A method for relieving pain associated with an intervertebral disc having a disc nucleus pulposus and an outer annulus fibrosus surrounding the nucleus pulposus, the method comprising: providing an elongated thermal or electromagnetic probe member having proximal and distal ends and defining a longitudinal axis, and having a flexible guidable region adjacent the distal end; penetrating the elongated thermal or electromagnetic probe member into a portion the intervertebral disc at a location that is immediately adjacent to a region of the intervertebral disc to be thermally or electromagnetically treated, wherein the region of the intervertebral disc to be treated is a tear extending through the annulus fibrosus; introducing the flexible guidable region of the probe into at least one of the nucleus pulposus and the annulus fibrosus of the intervertebral disc, at a location which is immediately adjacent to the tear; positioning the flexible guidable region of the probe toward the tear to extend substantially across the tear; supplying thermal or electromagnetic energy, from an energy source, to heat or induce an electromagnetic field adjacent to the annulus fibrosus sufficient to produce a thermal or electromagnetic effect on the intervertebral disc; positioning the flexible guidable region of the probe away from the tear to extend substantially opposite the tear; supplying thermal or electromagnetic energy, from the energy source, to heat or induce an electromagnetic field adjacent to the annulus fibrosus sufficient to produce a thermal or electromagnetic effect on the intervertebral disc; positioning the flexible guidable region of the probe substantially parallel the tear and toward the nucleus pulpous; and supplying thermal or electromagnetic energy, from the energy source, to heat or induce an electromagnetic field adjacent to the annulus fibrosus sufficient to produce a thermal or electromagnetic effect on the intervertebral disc.