Stent with flexible hinges

摘要

A helical stent includes at least one helical winding. Each helical winding includes a plurality of alternating long struts and short struts, ends of at least some of the long struts being joined to an end of an adjacent short strut by a flexible hinge arrangement, the struts being substantially rigid. The stent also includes at least one interconnection member connecting a hinge arrangement on one turn of the at least one winding with a hinge arrangement on an adjacent turn of the at least one winding. Fewer than all hinge arrangements on the at least one helical winding are connected to other hinge arrangements by an interconnection member.

主权项

1. An expandable stent comprising:
a plurality of struts extending substantially longitudinally along an axis of the stent in an unexpanded configuration; and a plurality of hinges interconnecting the struts, wherein the plurality of hinges each have a straight active portion which extends substantially circumferentially around the stent in the unexpanded configuration and two curved portions interconnecting the active portion to adjacent ones of the plurality of struts, wherein the straight active portion is smaller in width than the curved portions, and wherein the active portions of the plurality of hinges are configured so that as the stent is expanded from the unexpanded configuration to an expanded configuration the active portions are deformed while the curved portions and the struts are substantially undeformed.