Patent ID: RE44763

Claim:
A unit cell for use in a stent adapted to be expanded to conform to the dimensions of a vessel, comprising; (i) an elongate connecting bar extending in a direction normal to the direction of stent expansion, (ii) associated with each end of said connecting bar, a pair of arms including a first arm and a second arm, each arm being attached to the connecting bar associated end at an inner arm end for pivotal movement away from one another with stent expansion, said first and second arms having outer arm ends which are moved outwardly, with respect to the connecting bar, with such pivotal movement, and (iii) an expandable looped member connecting the outer arm ends in each pair of first and second arms, said looped member having an axial extremity which moves axially inwardly, with respect to the associated connecting bar end, component length as measured in an axial direction from an axial outward extremity to an axial inward extremity, wherein the axial component length reduces with stent expansion, said arms and expandable looped members being constructed and dimensioned so that the radial axial outward distance traveled by the arms' outer ends in each pair of first and second arms is approximately equal to the axial inward distance traveled by reduction in length of the axial component length of the associated looped member extremity, as the stent is expanded.