Patent ID: 7556644

Claim:
A self expanding flexible stent comprising: a helical strut member helically wound about an axis of said stent, said helical strut member comprising a plurality of helical strut elements; and a plurality of individual helical elements helically wound about said axis of said stent in the same direction of said helical strut member with said helical elements extending between and interconnecting points on subsequent windings of said helical strut member; wherein said helical elements are elongated elements without overlapping in the radial direction both in the compressed state and deployed state; wherein the distance between at least some adjacent helical elements in the compressed state varies along the length of said adjacent helical elements and is in a range from zero and about the maximum distance between adjacent helical elements in the deployed state; and wherein said stent in the compressed state is longer than in the deployed state; wherein in the deployed state the elongated elements are substantially parallel and said helical strut member and said helical strut elements define a cylinder having a constant diameter.