| US 7,611,531 B2 | ||
| Stent | ||
| Jorge Calisse, Berlin (Germany) | ||
| Assigned to Abbott Laboratories Vascular Enterprises Limited, Dublin (Ireland) | ||
| Filed on May 16, 2006, as Appl. No. 11/435,260. | ||
| Application 11/435260 is a continuation of application No. 10/241523, filed on Sep. 12, 2002, abandoned. | ||
| Claims priority of application No. 01122285 (EP), filed on Sep. 18, 2001. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2006/0206195 A1, Sep. 14, 2006 | ||
| Int. Cl. A61F 2/06 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 623—1.15 | 14 Claims |

| 1. A stent comprising:
a web structure defining an essentially tubular body having a tubular wall with a longitudinal axis and a circumferential
diameter, the web structure being expandable from a contracted configuration to an expanded configuration;
a plurality of longitudinally adjacent circumferential web patterns defining the web structure;
each web pattern being defined by a plurality of sequentially adjoined webs, the plurality of sequentially adjoined webs being
disposed circumferentially around a longitudinal axis of the essentially tubular body; and
at least one connection element extending between and connecting adjacent pairs of the web patterns configured to shorten
and/or lengthen along the longitudinal axis within a curved plane defined by the tubular wall in the contracted configuration
and/or the expanded configuration, the at least one connection element being formed by three connection webs, at least two
being substantially non-parallel relative to one another and at least two being substantially parallel to one another, the
three connection webs being disposed at an angle relative to one another, a rounded notch reducing a dimension of the connection
element being formed at the junction of adjacent connection webs and at least one rounded notch disposed between a proximal
end and distal end of the connection element.
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