Patent ID: 6837867

Claim:
A steerable catheter comprising: an elongated, flexible tubular catheter body having proximal and distal ends and a lumen extending therethrough; a tip section at the distal end of the catheter body, the tip section comprising a flexible plastic tubing having a core and an outer layer surrounding the core, the core having at least one off-axis lumen extending therethrough; a control handle at the proximal end of the catheter body; a puller wire extending through the off-axis lumen of the tip section and lumen of the catheter body, and having a proximal end anchored to the control handle and a distal end anchored to the tip section, whereby the puller wire is longitudinally moveable relative to the catheter body to cause deflection of the tip section in a plane in a first direction; and one or more stabilizing features extending longitudinally along at least a portion of the length of the tip section and positioned in the outer layer of the tip section generally symmetrically about a diameter of the tip section corresponding to the plane in which the tip section is deflectable, the one or more stabilizing features comprising a material that has a higher modulus of elasticity than the plastic of the tip section.