Patent ID: 7198638

Claim:
An implantable tubular graft comprising: a tubular knitted tubular graft comprising a single layer of yarns to define a single layered wall, said yarns being interlaced into stitches in a knit pattern capable of resilient longitudinal elongation and resilient radial contraction of said graft from a quiescent state to an elongated state; wherein said knit pattern is a warp knitted pattern of yarns forming a textile layer having an interior surface and an exterior surface, wherein interior yarns comprise the interior surface and form loops in the longitudinal direction of said graft, and exterior yarns comprise the exterior surface and are diagonally shifted over two or more of the interior yarns in an alternating pattern along a width of said graft before engaging an the interior yarn, wherein single layer of yarns form a graft wall having a thickness of no more than about 0.4 millimeters, and further wherein the elongated length is at least 50 percent by length greater than the quiescent length and the elongated length is no more than about 200 percent by length greater than the quiescent length.