INTRA-COLUMNAR CELL FEATURES TO IMPROVE DRUG DISTRIBUTION AND SCAFFOLDING OF A STENT

摘要

The present invention is directed toward a stent having a plurality of ax ially spaced serpentine bands, each serpentine band having an axis circumber entially oriented around the longitudinal axis of the stent. The serpentine bands have a plurality of struts spaced along the axis of the serpentine ban d forming alternating peaks and troughs. The serpentine bands are interconne cted via a plurality of interconnecting struts to form a plurality of cells defined by axially adjacent serpentine bands and circumgerentially adjacent interconnecting struts. When the stent is in its unexpanded state each serpe ntine comprises a plurality of slits, each slit being non-linear and continu ous from a first end to a second end and being formed in at least a portion of each of three consecutively connected struts. Upon expansion of the stent to its expanded state, each of the slits expands in size to form an intra-c olumnar cell (ICC).