Patent ID: 7025777

Claim:
An unexpanded stent comprising: a plurality of radially expandable undulating rings, each radially expandable undulating ring comprising a strut with a plurality of apices; a plurality of arcuate flex members connecting adjacent first and second radially expandable undulating rings; the first radially expandable undulating ring comprises a strut which is coupled to two circumferentially adjacent arcuate flex members such that more than one complete sinusoidal cycle of strut material extends between adjacent couplings with said two circumferentially adjacent arcuate flex members; and the second radially expandable undulating ring comprises a strut which is coupled to said two circumferentially adjacent arcuate flex members such that less than one complete sinusoidal cycle of the strut material extends between adjacent couplings with said two circumferentially adjacent arcuate flex members, wherein said arcuate flex members are not connected to a common sinusoidal strut of either of said first or second undulating rings.