Methods and apparatus for performing a non-continuous circumferential treatment of a body lumen

A method, comprising:

• intravascularly positioning a catheter in a low-profile delivery configuration within a renal artery of a hypertensive human patient and proximate to renal nerves innervating a kidney of the patient;
• transforming an expandable electrode at a distal region of the catheter between the low-profile delivery configuration and an expanded treatment configuration,
• wherein the expandable electrode comprises a double helix arrangement, and wherein, in the treatment configuration, the expandable electrode is sized and shaped such that the expandable electrode contacts an inner wall of the renal artery of the patient;
• and
• delivering electrical energy via the expandable electrode to create a treatment zone along a lengthwise segment of the renal artery,
• wherein delivering the electrical energy thermally inhibits neural communication along the renal nerves innervating the kidney of the patient, thereby resulting in a therapeutically beneficial reduction in blood pressure of the patient.