Patent ID: 6878162
Filing Date: 2005-04-12
Classification: A61F

Abstract:
1. A stent for insertion into a vessel of a patient, comprising: a tubular member having a first smaller diameter for insertion into the vessel, and a second larger diameter for deployment within the vessel, said tubular member including a central portion comprised of a plurality of helical circumferential windings separated by a helical space, each of said windings including a plurality of undulations, with each said undulation being defined by two adjacent struts and a loop connecting the struts, wherein adjacent windings are connected with a plurality of bridges, said bridges extending across said helical space between said adjacent windings and connected to said loops of a plurality of said undulations, and further wherein a same number of struts is traversed from any one bridge to a next bridge on each of said windings when traveling in either a right-handed or left-handed direction along each of said windings, and wherein said tubular member includes cylindrical end portions, and a transition zone between said central portion and each of said end portions, said transition zone including a plurality of transition undulations having struts that progressively increase in length, wherein a relatively longer strut of said transition undulations has a relatively wider width than a relatively shorter strut of said transition undulations.