An ablating element for use with an ablating system employable within a hollow anatomical region. The ablating element includes an elongated support body having a central axis and, at least one thermocouple wrapped around the central body. The thermocouple provides a dual function of heating the anatomical region and measuring the temperature of the anatomical region. In a preferred embodiment a number of thermocouples are wrapped around the central body. The thermocouples are serially positioned along the central axis, thus defining segmented portions.
