Patent ID: 6855161

Claim:
A method for providing a superelastic, radiopaque metallic stent for medical applications, comprising: providing a tubular-shaped body having a thin wall, wherein the body includes a superelastic nickel-titanium alloy and the alloy further includes a ternary element selected from the group of chemical elements consisting of: iridium, platinum, gold, rhenium, tungsten, palladium, rhodium, tantalum, silver, ruthenium, or hafnium; wherein the step of providing a tubular-shaped body includes melting nickel, titanium, and the ternary element, cooling to form an alloy ingot, hot forming the alloy ingot, forming the alloy ingot into a cylinder, drilling the cylinder to form tubing, drawing the tubing, and annealing the tubing, forming a strut pattern; wherein the stent is radiopaque.