Patent ID: 6773455
Filing Date: 2004-08-10
Classification: A61F

Abstract:
A flexible stent for implantation in a body lumen and expandable from a contracted condition to an expanded condition, comprising:a plurality of adjacent cylindrical elements which are expandable in the radial direction and arranged in alignment along a longitudinal stent axis; the cylindrical elements formed in a serpentine wave pattern transverse to the longimdinal axis and containing a plurality of alternating peaks and valleys; at least one interconnecting member extending between adjacent cylindrical elements and connecting them to one another; at least one reinforcing member extending across a width of the alternating peaks and valleys such that the reinforcing member is curved and has a circumferential width when the stent is in the contracted condition; each reinforcing member lying in the same circumferential plane as the cylindrical elements and having a configuration essentially parallel to the longitudinal stent axis when the stent is in the contracted condition; and the serpentine pattern having varying degrees of curvature in regions of the peaks and valleys adapted so that radial expansion of the adjacent cylindrical elements is substantially uniform around a circumference of the cylindrical elements during expansion of the stent from the contracted condition to the expanded condition; wherein the circumferential width of each reinforcing member is smaller than the width of the peak or valley it extends across; wherein each of the alternating peaks and valleys has one of said reinforcing members extending across its width.