Steerable catheter and methods of making the same

Abstract

The present invention is a method of manufacturing a flexible tubular body for catheter, sheath or similar medical device. The method comprises pre-extruding an inner layer of the body from a thermoplastic polymer and then pulling the inner layer over a mandrel and tightening the layer down. If wire lumens were not integrally formed in the inner layer when pre-extruded, then two polymer spaghetti tubes, each with wire lumens, are laid 180 degrees apart axially along the outer surface of the inner layer. Deflection wires are then fed into the wire lumens. A cylindrical wire braid is woven or pulled over the inner layer (and the spaghetti tubes, as the case may be) and tightened down. The aforementioned components are then encased in an outer polymer layer. A heat-shrinkable tube is then placed over the outer layer. A pressurized fluid is injected into each wire lumen to maintain the internal diameter of each wire lumen at a diameter that is greater than the diameter of the deflection wire received in each wire lumen. Heat is then applied to the body and heat-shrinkable tube to cause the layers to laminate together. Once the newly laminated body has sufficiently cooled, the heat-shrinkable tube is removed from the body.