EXPANDABLE STENTS AND METHOD FOR MAKING SAME

摘要

The invention is directed to an expandable stent for implantation in a body lumen, such as an artery, and a method for making it from a single length of tubing. The stent consists of a plurality of radially expandable cylindrical elements generally aligned on a common axis and interconnected by one or more interconnective elements. The individual radially expandable cylindrical elements consist of ribbon-like material disposed in an undulati ng pattern. The stents are made by coating a length of tubing with an etchant- resistive material and then selectively removing portions of the coating to form a pattern for the stent on the tubing and to expose the portions of the tubi ng to be removed. This may be done by machine-controlled activation and relative positioning of a laser in conjunction with the coated tubing. After the patterning of the tubing, the stent is formed by removing exposed portions o f the tubing by an etching process.