Access and ablation system and method for use thereof

A method for accessing and ablating hard and/or soft tissues requiring ablation in a patient's body, the method comprising:

• inserting portions a stylet into, through, and out of an interior cavity of a cannula so that a distal end of the stylet extends outwardly from a distal end of the cannula to a form a combined stylet and cannula by contacting the distal end of the stylet with a distal end portion of the cannula and moving the distal end portion of the cannula away from a first position that is transverse to a mid-longitudinal axis of the cannula;
• inserting a combined stylet and cannula into the patient's body to create a pathway therethrough and position the distal end of the stylet and the distal end of the cannula adjacent the tissues requiring ablation or tissues adjacent thereto;
• removing the stylet from the interior cavity of the cannula;
• pushing portions of a needle into, through, and out of the interior cavity of the cannula to position a curved distal end portion of the needle adjacent the distal end of the cannula in the pathway;
• lengthening the pathway in an angled and curved direction relative to the mid-longitudinal axis of the cannula by pushing the curved distal end portion of the needle further into the tissues requiring ablation or the tissues adjacent thereto;
• guiding a drill including a coiled distal end portion received over the needle in the angled and curved direction relative to the mid-longitudinal axis of the cannula;
• rotating and advancing at least a portion of the coiled distal end portion of the drill beyond the curved distal end portion of the needle to enlarge and/or further lengthen the pathway by removal of portions of the tissues requiring ablation or the tissues adjacent thereto;
• removing the needle and the drill from the interior cavity of the cannula;
• pushing portions of a radio-frequency (RF) ablation probe into, through, and out of the cannula and into and through the pathway to position a distal end portion of the RF ablation probe adjacent the tissues requiring ablation;
• and
• activating the RF ablation probe to ablate all or portions of the tissues requiring ablation;
• wherein the distal end portion of the cannula is scoop-shaped and biased in the first position;
• wherein at least the distal end portion of the RF ablation probe is flexible to facilitate positioning thereof in an angled and curved portion of the pathway created using the needle and the drill;
• wherein the RF ablation probe includes at least two axially-spaced electrodes disposed on the distal end portion, the electrodes being individually energizable in situ such that any one of the electrodes can be energized as an active electrode and any other one of the electrodes can be energized as a return electrode without withdrawing the RF ablation probe from the pathway;
• and
• wherein when the RF ablation probe is positioned in the angled and curved portion of the pathway, line-of-sight propagation of current is possible between the active electrode and the return electrode.