Patent ID: 6962603

Claim:
A cylindrical stent formed from a single piece of metal, the stent comprising a multiplicity of sets of strut members with each set of strut members forming a closed cylindrical structure having a longitudinal axis collinear with a longitudinal axis of the stent, the closed structure comprised of interconnected strut members, each strut member connected at a first end to an adjacent strut member and at a second end to another adjacent strut member, in an expanded state of the stent each strut member being non-parallel to the longitudinal axis, adjacent closed cylindrical structures being coupled each to the other by connectors, each of said connectors being diagonal relative to the longitudinal axis, said stent having a proximal end, a distal end and a center section located approximately half-way between said proximal and distal ends, said stent having two types of circumferentially extending sets of strut members, a first type of set of strut members and a second type of set of strut members, the first type of set of strut members having a shorter total circumferential length as compared to the total circumferential length of the second type of set of strut members, only the set of strut members at the distal end of the stent and only the set of strut members at the proximal end of the stent being the second type of set of strut members, the stent when expanded having a uniform diameter and having the first type of set of strut members having greater radial rigidity as compared to the second type of set of strut members.