A method for calibrating a force measuring probe comprises providing a probe having an insertion tube with a distal tip (30), a joint comprising a resilient member (54), a joint sensor (64) in conjunction with a processor (36) coupled to the probe wherein the processor has a memory of an axial displacement threshold for the joint stored therein applying force to the distal tip (105) measuring the displacement and deflection of the distal tip (110) correlating the measured displacement and deflection of the distal tip to the applied force and storing the correlation in the memory until reaching the axial displacement threshold (120) applying force greater than the axial displacement threshold to the distal tip to define a new force value (125) measuring the position of the distal tip in a plane transverse to the direction of force exerted on the distal tip (130) correlating the measured position of the distal tip in the plane transverse to the direction of force to the new force value and storing the correlation in the memory until reaching a pre-established upper limit for the new force value (145).
