Patent ID: 7578840

Claim:
An expandable stent comprising: a plurality of serpentine ring structures, wherein at least one of said ring structures comprises a first key-hole shaped bend disposed at a first longitudinal end of said ring structure and a second key-hole shaped bend disposed at said same first longitudinal end of said ring structure, said first and second key-hole shaped bends being disposed circumferentially adjacent to one another at said same end of said same ring structure and being longitudinally staggered with respect to one another, said first and second key-hole shaped bends thereby avoiding abutment against one another when said stent is in an unexpanded state, and a plurality of strut members, wherein each of said first and second key-hole shaped bends has a first end connected to one of said strut members and a second end connected to another of said strut members, said strut members extending away from said first and second key-hole shaped bends in substantially the same direction; and at least one connector member joining two of said ring structures, said at least one connector member having a first end joined to a peak of one of said bends of one of said two ring structures and a second end joined to a peak of one of said bends of the other of said two ring structures.