Patent ID: 7806922

Claim:
A vascular graft for implantation within a body, said vascular graft comprising a monolithic PTFE tube having a length, said monolithic PTFE tube having an inner wall surface and an outer wall surface, said monolithic PTFE tube having a wall structure between said inner wall surface and outer wall surface, said monolithic PTFE tube having a pre-sintered non-expanded portion including a non-fibrous microstructure, said monolithic PTFE tube having a longitudinally expanded portion including a node and fibril microstructure, said expanded portion and said pre-sintered non-expanded portion being of the same extrudate such that said pre-sintered non-expanded portion defines a section of said wall structure, said expanded portion and said pre-sintered non-expanded portion each having a respective stiffness, said stiffness of said pre-sintered non-expanded portion being greater than said stiffness of said expanded portion, said expanded portion and said pre-sintered non-expanded portion each having a respective outer diameter, said respective outer diameters of said expanded portion and said pre-sintered non-expanded portion being the same.