A method for treating a sphincter provides a polymer material having a
liquid state. The method also provides a catheter having a distal end, a
tissue piercing device carried by the distal end, and an energy delivery
device coupled to the tissue piercing device. The tissue piercing device
has a lumen. The method introduces the catheter into an esophagus and
pierces an exterior sphincter tissue surface within with the tissue
piercing device. The method advances the tissue piercing device into an
interior sphincter tissue site and conveys the polymer material while in
a liquid state through the lumen into the interior sphincter tissue site.
The method delivers energy to the tissue piercing device to transform the
polymer material into a less liquid state within the interior sphincter
tissue site, to thereby remodel the sphincter.