Patent ID: 7887578

Claim:
A stent comprising: a tubular body having a longitudinal axis, and having a proximal, a distal end, and a lumen extending longitudinally therebetween, and a wall having areas thereof removed to define a web structure configured for circumferential expansion from a contracted delivery configuration to an expanded deployed configuration; the web structure comprising a plurality of web patterns interconnected with one another at a plurality of X-shaped transition sections, and that are arranged so that the web patterns are situated side-by-side along the longitudinal length of the tubular body, with each web pattern also extending circumferentially around the wall; at least one of said interconnected web patterns comprising, at least three webs joined end-to-end so as to extend between a pair of X-shaped transition sections with no other X-shaped transition sections between the pair of X-shaped transition sections; said three webs that are joined end-to-end being joined by two bends so that the bends permit the three webs to be generally foldable between the pair of X-shaped transition sections when said tubular body is in the contracted delivery configuration, and then unfolded when said tubular body is expanded to the deployed configuration; and said at least three webs each comprising a plurality of web sections, with one of the web sections being angled relative to one other web section when the stent is in the expanded deployed configuration.