A system and method for preventing unintended tissue damage from the delivery of unintended bipolar radiofrequency energy. The system may include a multi-electrode ablation device and an RF delivery unit. The RF delivery unit may transmit unipolar energy to the plurality of electrodes, the energy being in phase, with all electrodes delivering the same voltage and being activated at the same time to deliver no bipolar energy. Additionally or alternatively, the RF delivery unit may transmit bipolar energy to the electrodes. Here, voltage differences between each pair of adjacent electrodes may be monitored and the level of bipolar energy being delivered may be calculated. The voltage of energy delivered to at least one electrode in each adjacent electrode pair may be adjusted if the amount of delivered bipolar energy exceeds a safety threshold.
