1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a catheter and, more particularly, to an electrode catheter having a remotely curvable tip.
2. Description of the Related Art
The advantages of steerable catheters are known. Such catheters are inserted into a blood vessel or other body area and their distal end guided in various directions to reach areas of the body which would otherwise be inaccessible. Examples of steerable catheters are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,749,086 to Kline et al.; 3,773,034 to Burns et al., 3,552,384 to Pieric and 3,521,620 to Cook.
A steerable catheter should have both flexibility for steering the catheter tip and rigidity to control steering. Known prior art catheters have been unable to successfully combine these two characteristics, tending instead to sacrifice one of these characteristics at the expense of the other. It is also desirable to limit the direction of bending of the distal end of the catheter to provide better steering control.
Catheters having electrode means for monitoring parts of the body, such as the heart, by transmitting electrical signals for analysis on an external monitor are also known. Currently a need exists for an electrode catheter which is steerable to access areas of the heart which could not be reached by a non-bendable catheter. It would be desirable to provide an electrode catheter with a steerable tip that combines sufficient flexibility to allow steering of the catheter to desired areas with good torsional rigidity and steering control.