Assemblies, systems, and methods for intravascular neuromodulation include a method of positioning a treatment device and a track element at a treatment site in an artery of a human patient and transforming the track element from a delivery configuration to a deployed configuration to form a spiral-shaped track tending to be in apposition with an inner wall of the artery. The treatment device has a distally-located neuromodulation element for sliding along the spiral-shaped track. The method can also include delivering energy via the neuromodulation element across the inner wall of a renal artery to heat or otherwise electrically modulate neural fibers that contribute to renal function.
