Patent ID: 6540774
Filing Date: 2003-04-01
Classification: A61F,A61L

Abstract:
A longitudinally flexible stent for implanting in a body lumen and expandable from a contracted condition to an expanded condition, comprising:a plurality of adjacent cylindrical elements defining struts, the cylindrical elements being substantially independently expandable in a radial direction, the plurality of cylindrical elements defining a first end and a second end with at least one cylindrical element forming a center section therebetween; a plurality of interconnecting members extending between the adjacent cylindrical elements and connecting the adjacent cylindrical elements to one another, the interconnecting members connecting the end cylindrical elements to the center section having a taper with the wider portion of the taper being connected to the end cylindrical elements; and wherein at least one of said cylindrical elements has regions which experience high stresses and regions which experience low stresses during radial deployment, the width of the strut of the stent in the low stress regions being larger than the width of the strut of the stent in the high stress regions to increase the radiopacity of the stent.