Patent ID: 7976576

Claim:
An expandable stent, comprising in both expanded and unexpanded form: a) a plurality of interconnected flexible cells defining a stent having a first end section and a second end section and a longitudinal axis, the cells arranged in a plurality of interconnected flexible rows disposed along the longitudinal axis of the stent, each of the flexible cells comprising a first member, a second member, a third member, and a fourth member; b) a first C-shaped loop disposed between the first member and the third member; c) a second C-shaped loop disposed between the second member and the fourth member; d) a first flexible loop connector disposed between the first member and the second member; and e) a second flexible loop connector disposed between the third member and the fourth member; wherein the first and second flexible loop connectors in the cells in the first end section of the stent are more flexible than the first and second flexible loop connectors in the cells in the second end section of the stent; wherein the first and second flexible loop connectors in the cells of said first end section have a different shape than the first and second flexible loop connectors in the cells of the second end section of the stent; and wherein the first and second flexible loop connectors in the cells of the second end section of the stent include a “U” shape.