Steering mechanism for catheters and methods for making same

摘要

A medical catheter steering construction is described that is particularly well suited for steering ablation catheters that utilize coaxial transmission lines. An elongated coaxial transmission line is received within a lumen in the flexible tubular member. An antenna is coupled to the center conductor of the coaxial transmission line. A shield termination is secured to the shield portion of the coaxial transmission line. A steering wire that extends through the tubular member to permit a user to steer the catheter during insertion is attached to the shield termination. With this arrangement, when the catheter is inserted into the vessel of a patient, the tip of the catheter may be steered by pulling on the steering wire. In one embodiment of the invention, a distal portion of the tubular member has a stiffness that is significantly less than the stiffness of the majority of the tubular member to facilitate bending during steering. Suitable methods for making such catheters are also described.