of manual interfaces for the control desired in fig2 one input member controls the mechanical cabling 126 for providing the two degrees of freedom of action of the catheter 130 in particular the linear and rotational movement another input member in input device 124 controls the flexing and bending of the catheter 130 by way of the mechanical cabling 128 the input instructions from the input device 124 are transmitted to the motor array 120 by way of the controller 122 which may be a microprocessor in an alternative arrangement as shown in fig2 a an intermediate drive device 59 may be interposed between the motor array 120 and the catheter 130 in such an arrangement the motor array 120 communicates with the drive device 59 over the lines 128 which may be electrical in turn the drive device 59 is coupled to the cabling extending through the length of the catheter and actuates the cabling to cause the distal end of the catheter 130 to bend and flex with one or more degrees of freedom details of an automated catheter drive system are describe in the u s application entitled u201c coaxial catheter system u201d by weitzer rogers and solbjor ser no 10 270 740 filed herewith the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference details of a imaging system that aids the movement of the catheter through an anatomic body are describe in the u s application entitled u201c catheter tracking system u201d by weitzner and lee ser no 10 216 669 filed herewith the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference referring now to fig3 there is shown a further embodiment of a catheter drive system in fig3 like reference characters are used to identify like features shown in fig2.