Catheter for delivery of energy to a surgical site

A catheter for delivering energy to an intervertebral disc, and said catheter including at a proximal end a handle and at a distal end a probe and said intervertebral disc having a nucleus pulposus, an annulus fibrosus, and an inner wall of said annulus fibrosus, said nucleus pulposus having a first diameter in a disc plane between opposing sections of said inner wall, and said catheter comprising:

• at least one energy delivery device located at the distal end of the catheter to deliver energy to portions of the intervertebral disc;
• and
• an activation element located at the distal end of the catheter, to transition the probe from a linear to a multi-dimensional shape, within the intervertebral disc,
• wherein the activation element comprises:
• a mandrel with a longitudinal axis, and the mandrel including a differential bending ability in two orthogonal axis which are orthogonal to the longitudinal axis;
• and
• a piezo-electric material joined to the mandrel along a length thereof, and the piezoelectric material responsive to an electrical stimulus to vary at least one dimension thereof, to effect a transition of the mandrel from a substantially linear shape to an arcuate shape.