Disclosed herein is a minimally invasive, radio-frequency device and a method for local and regional vascular therapy, more particularly for passivation of atherosclerotic, inflammatory, and/or vulnerable plaque in blood vessels. Radio-frequency devices of the type described herein constitute an important, inexpensive, disposable, minimally invasive approach for passivation or removal of plaques in various parts of the human body, and, as such, have cardiological applications, such as the treatment of coronary atherosclerosis, as well as other applications, such as the treatment occluded blood vessels in the legs and extremities.