Patent ID: 8852261

Claim:
A method of fabricating a support apparatus implantable within a biological lumen, comprising: interlinking a plurality of strut members with a plurality of swivel joints, the plurality of strut members comprising a plurality of inner strut members and a plurality of outer strut members, without directly interlinking any of the inner strut members to each other by swivel joints, and wherein each of the plurality of inner strut members and each of the plurality of outer strut members is directly interlinked to three other strut members of the plurality of strut members by swivel joints, such that the swivel joints cooperate with the strut members to adjustably define a tubular shaped structure between a compressed orientation and an expanded orientation, wherein the tubular shaped structure has a longitudinal axis, and wherein each of the plurality of inner strut members in its entirety is closer to the longitudinal axis than each of the outer strut members.