Patent ID: 7500988

Claim:
A monolithic, hollow substantially cylindrical radially expandable stent having proximal and distal open ends and a longitudinal axis extending therebetween, said stent for deployment within a human body vessel, said stent comprising: a. a plurality of hoops comprising a plurality of interconnected struts forming a substantially diamond shape configuration, said stent having a proximal end hoop and a distal end hoop, wherein said distal end hoop and said proximal end hoop are configured to have greater radial and longitudinal strength than the hoops therebetween and said proximal hoop is flared; b. a plurality of sinusoidal rings connecting adjacent hoops to one another, said sinusoidal rings being formed from a plurality of alternating struts, the plurality of alternating struts being substantially shorter in length than the plurality of interconnected struts of the plurality of hoops, each of the plurality of sinusoidal rings having more than twice the number of struts forming the plurality of hoops and each of said plurality of sinusoidal rings having a periodic structure of less than one-half of the periodic structure of said plurality of hoops, wherein the union of each of the plurality of sinusoidal rings and each of the plurality of hoops is made at the apex of at least one diamond configuration of the plurality of hoops and the apex of at least one intersection of the plurality of alternating struts of the sinusoidal rings; and c. proximal and distal attachment devices for securing a graft member to the substantially cylindrical radially expandable stent, the proximal attachment device being positioned distal of the proximal open end of the stent such that the proximal end hoop of the stent is configured to be exposed to a body vessel, said proximal and distal attachment devices comprising tabs formed from the joining of two struts and having at least two apertures therein, wherein the plurality of hoops, the plurality of sinusoidal rings and the proximal and distal attachment devices form a monolithic structure.