Patent ID: 7901448

Claim:
A vascular prosthesis for implantation in a body vessel, the vascular prosthesis comprising: a helical section configured to transition between a contracted, wound-down delivery configuration and an unconstrained, unwound deployed configuration, the helical section comprising at least one unconnected turn extending substantially more than 360° along a helical path when in the deployed configuration, each said turn having a distal edge and a proximal edge; the helical section comprising a flat ribbon of material having a multiplicity of openings formed therethrough, at least some of the multiplicity of openings define ellipsoidal openings; the distal and proximal edges each defining a series of generally convex crests and generally concave troughs configured so that in the deployed configuration a series of adjacent crests along the distal edge interdigitates with a series of adjacent troughs along an adjacent proximal edge; said series of adjacent interdigitating crests along said distal edge extending at least half way into said series of adjacent troughs along said proximal edge; and said series of adjacent interdigitating crests and troughs extending along at least half of the helical section; whereby the interdigitating crests and troughs improve the coverage and support of the body vessel.