Patent ID: 7029493

Claim:
A stent in the form of a thin-walled, multi-cellular, tubular structure having a longitudinal axis, the stent comprising: a multiplicity of sets of strut members, each set of strut members being longitudinally separated each from the other and each set of strut members forming a closed, ring-like cylindrical section of the stent, each set of strut members consisting of a multiplicity of strut elements, each strut element consisting of one curved end strut that is joined at a junction point to one diagonal strut; a multiplicity of sets of flexible links with each set of flexible links connecting two of the multiplicity of sets of strut members, each set of flexible links consisting of a multiplicity of individual flexible links, each individual flexible link being a single undulating structure that extends generally in the longitudinal direction that is parallel to the stent's longitudinal axis the shape of at least some of the individual flexible links being in the shape of a letter “Z”, wherein each of said links has at least two generally curved segments, connected to at least three longitudinal axis of each of the straight segments wherein the longitudinal axis of each of the straight segments of each of the individual flexible links lies generally aligned with the longitudinal axis of the stent.