Patent ID: 9149377
Filing Date: 2015-10-06
Classification: A61F

Abstract:
1. A stent suitable for deployment in a blood vessel to support at least part of an internal wall of the blood vessel, the stent being movable between a delivery configuration and a deployed configuration, the stent comprising a first region and two second regions, a radial stiffness of the first region being greater than a radial stiffness of each of the second regions wherein the stent has first and second ends and wherein one of the second regions is located at the first end of the stent, and the other one of the second regions is located at the second end of the stent; wherein the stent comprises a plurality of annular elements, including at least first and second annular elements in the first region and at least one annular element in each of the second regions, the first and second annular elements in the first region being arranged longitudinally adjacent to each other and being connected together by at least one connecting element, wherein a longitudinal dimension of each of the first and second annular elements in the first region is less than a longitudinal dimension of the at least one annular element in each of the second regions, whereby the radial stiffness in each of the second regions is less than the radial stiffness in the first region due to the greater longitudinal dimension of the at least one annular element in each of the second regions than the longitudinal dimension of each of the first and second annular elements in the first region; wherein the stent extends longitudinally and has a centreline; wherein the stent has a first end section at one longitudinal end thereof and a second end section at an opposite longitudinal end thereof, and a section located between the first and second end sections; wherein in the deployed configuration the centreline of the section of the stent located between the first and second end sections is curved in three-dimensional space; and wherein in the deployed configuration the centreline of the first end section is substantially co-linear with the centreline of the second end section.