Stent combination

Claim 2

An unexpanded intraluminal stent which is radially expandable to an operative configuration in which it provides interior support for a blood vessel, which stent comprises a tubular structure capable of being radially expanded from a smaller diameter unexpanded configuration to a larger diameter fully expanded configuration without substantially any shortening of its axial length, said structure being formed of a malleable material which in its fully expanded configuration will effectively resist return to a smaller diameter condition when subject to normal forces acting within the body of a mammal, said structure constituting an open framework which includes a plurality of axially extending leg means that extend from one axial end to the other of said tubular structure, said leg means each including a plurality of leg segments which are interconnected with one another in the fully expanded configuration at an angle of between about 120° and 140° in a zig-zag pattern, and said legs being spaced apart from one another in the fully expanded configuration by a plurality of open diamond-shaped cells which are axially unconnected to one another, at least one vertex of each of said diamond-shaped cells being connected to at least one of said legs, wherein the leg do not form part of the diamond-shaped cells.

Claim 3

The stent according to claim 1 wherein said adjacent leg segments are oriented at an angle of between about 125° and about 135° to each other both in said unexpanded configuration and in said expanded configuration.

Claim 4

The stent according to claim 1 wherein each of said cells includes four arms having approximately the same length and width as one another.

Claim 5

The stent according to claim 3 wherein the width of said leg segments is at least about 40% greater than the width of said arms.

Claim 6

An unexpanded intraluminal stent which is radially expandable to an operative configuration in which it provides interior support for a blood vessel, which stent comprises a tubular structure capable of being radially expanded from a smaller diameter unexpanded configuration to a larger diameter fully expanded configuration without any substantial shortening of its axial length, said structure being formed of a malleable material which in its fully expanded configuration will effectively resist return to a smaller diameter condition when subject to normal forces acting within the body of a mammal, said structure constituting an open framework which includes a plurality of axially extending leg means that extend from one axial end to the other of said tubular structure, said leg means each including a plurality of leg segments which are interconnected with one another in the fully expanded configuration at an angle of between about 120° and 140° in a zig-zag pattern, and said legs being spaced apart from one another in the fully expanded configuration by a plurality of spacers which include open diamond-shaped cells that are connected at one vertex to at least one of said legs and unconnected to one another in an axial direction, and said spacers each comprising a pair of diamond-shaped cells which each have four arms and a common vertex, said pair being aligned transverse to the axis of said tubular structure.

Claim 7

An unexpanded intraluminal stent which is radially expandable to an operative configuration in which it provides interior support for a blood vessel, which stent comprises a tubular structure capable of being radially expanded from a smaller diameter unexpanded configuration to a larger diameter fully expanded configuration without any substantial shortening of its axial length, said structure being formed of a malleable material which in its fully expanded configuration will effectively resist return to a smaller diameter condition when subject to normal forces acting within the body of a mammal, said structure constituting an open framework which includes a plurality of axially extending leg means that extend from one axial end to the other of said tubular structure, said leg means each including a plurality of leg segments which are interconnected with one another in the fully expanded configuration at an angle of between about 120° and 140° in a zig-zag pattern, and said legs being spaced apart from one another in the fully expanded configuration by a plurality of spacers which include open diamond-shaped cells that are connected at one vertex to at least one of said legs and unconnected to one another in an axial direction, and said spacers each comprising a pair of diamond-shaped cells which each have four arms and a common vertex, said pair being aligned transverse to the axis of said tubular structure.

Claim 8

The stent according to claim 5 wherein said arms all have about the same length.

Claim 9

The stent according to claim 6 wherein the width of said leg segments is at least about 40% greater than the width of said arms.

Claim 10

The stent according to claim 5 wherein each of said adjacent leg segments is joined at its end to the end of one of said arms of said cells and is spaced apart from the end of said adjacent leg segment.

Claim 11

An unexpanded intraluminal stent which is radially expandable to an operative configuration in which it provides interior support for a blood vessel, which stent comprises a tubular structure capable of being radially expanded from a smaller diameter unexpanded configuration to a larger diameter fully expanded configuration without substantially shortening its axial length, said structure being formed of a malleable material which in its expanded configuration will effectively resist return to a smaller diameter condition when subject to normal forces acting within the body of a mammal, said structure being an open unitary framework which includes a plurality of axially extending legs which extend from axial end to the other end of said tubular structure, and a plurality of open diamond-shaped cells connected at vertices to said adjacent legs, which cells are unconnected to one another in an axial direction, wherein the legs do not form part of the diamond-shaped cells.

Claim 12

An unexpanded intraluminal stent which is radially expandable to an operative configuration in which it provides interior support for a blood vessel, which stent comprises a tubular structure capable of being radially expanded from a smaller diameter unexpanded configuration to a larger diameter fully expanded configuration without substantially shortening its axial length, said structure being formed of a malleable material which in its expanded configuration will effectively resist return to a smaller diameter condition when subject to normal forces acting within the body of a mammal, said structure being an open unitary framework which includes a plurality of axially extending legs which extend from axial end to the other end of said tubular structure, and a plurality of open diamond-shaped cells connected at vertices to said adjacent legs, which cells are unconnected to one another in an axial direction, wherein the legs do not form part of the diamond-shaped cells.

Claim 13

The stent of claim 9 wherein said legs comprise a plurality of leg segments which are directly joined end-to-end so that each leg constitutes a continuous zig-zag line.

Claim 14

The stent of claim 9 wherein each said leg segment terminates in a unitary junction to an adjacent leg segment and to one vertex of one of said diamond cells.

Claim 15

The stent of claim 11 wherein each said junction joins two said leg segments and two arms which constitute one-half of one of said diamond-shaped cells, with said leg segments having a width at least about 40% greater than said arms.

Claim 16

The stent of claim 12 wherein the opposite end of each of said arms to that which is joined at each said junction is connected only to another arm of said diamond-shaped cell so that, when said stent is transformed between its unexpanded and its expanded configurations, said two connected arms are bent from a generally parallel orientation to a generally perpendicular orientation.

Claim 17

The stent of claim 13 wherein the angular orientation of said adjacent leg segments is between about 120° and about 140° in both the expanded and unexpanded configurations.

Claim 18

The combination of the stent of claim 12 and a tubular biological membrane in the form of a mammalian blood vessel segment wherein said tubular structure includes a plurality of prongs which are connected to various of said junctions and aligned axially in regions between adjacent legs and which prongs can be bent to a generally radial orientation to permit the attachment of said blood vessel segment in surrounding relationship, said prongs protruding through said blood vessel segment wall and being aligned in an axial orientation to secure said blood vessel segment thereto.