STENT UND VERFAHREN ZUM HERSTELLEN

摘要

PCT No. PCT/US93/05823 Sec. 371 Date Dec. 16, 1994 Sec. 102(e) Date Dec. 16, 1994 PCT Filed Jun. 16, 1993 PCT Pub. No. WO94/00179 PCT Pub. Date Jan. 6, 1994A stent comprising a coil including a plurality of arcuate sections that alternate directions around a central axis, each arcuate section including a pair of curved turns joined by a cusp, and the cusps of adjacent arcuate sections intermeshing and defining at least one region of overlap, which in turn describes a helix around and along the length of the coil. In the preferred embodiment, there are two regions of overlap, which together describe a double helix. In another preferred embodiment, the stent is bifurcated so as to support a branched vessel or the like. A method for forming a stent, including the steps of providing a flat sheet of material, chemically etching said sheet to form a blank, and forming said blank into a cylindrical coil. The coiling step is preferably carried out on a plurality of rollers.