Patent ID: 8755861

Claim:
A catheter comprising: an elongate catheter body having a distal end and a proximal end; a proximal handle segment having an articulation control and a deployment control, said proximal handle segment connected to said proximal end; an intermediate segment connected to said handle segment; a deflectable segment connected to said intermediate segment, said deflectable segment adapted to articulate in a plane through an angle in response to said articulation control; a distal array segment connected to said deflectable segment, said distal array segment including a deployable electrode array that can move from a first retracted position to a second deployed position, the deployed position comprising a known, reproducible, and relatively stiff shape; said deployable electrode array formed from a flexible printed circuit slit to form splines and rolled about a major axis, the splines of the flexible printed circuit including first regions having a first stiffness and second regions that include one or more stiffener layers and have a second stiffness that is greater than the first stiffness, the first stiffness and the second stiffness at least partially determining the shape of the electrode array in the deployed position, said distal array segment has a non-uniform distribution of electrodes along at least some of the splines with the electrodes being distributed more densely in a distal tip area of the splines.