Patent ID: 8273117

Claim:
A method for manufacturing a metallic precursor tube, for a biocompatible, expandable, flexible intraluminal graft, comprising the steps of (a) providing a bulk metal block which is quasi-isotropic in all directions, which has not been formed by a deformation process, or if formed by a deformation process, has been subsequently recrystallized by heat treatment, to establish a quasi-isotropic, randomly oriented microstructure, (b) machining said quasi-isotropic bulk metal block by cutting and hollowing out to provide a precursor tube having a first and second end and having a size and shape selected to reflect a geometry of a vessel or vessels at a deployment site and comprising a thin walled member with a wall thickness ranging from 0.025 to 1.5 mm and having an outside diameter ranging from 0.5 to 10.0 mm and exhibiting a quasi-isotropic, randomly oriented microstructure, and a texture intensity value in the range of 2.5 to 6 times random.