Braided modular stent with hourglass-shaped interfaces

A braided modular stent comprising:

• a body having two integral leg stumps depending therefrom, an end section having a hexagonal cell wound architecture opposite the leg stumps, and a sealing ring adjacent the end section for providing an endoleak-resistant seal between the stent and a body lumen into which the stent is adapted to be installed, the sealing region having a greater radial strength than a portion of the stent adjacent to the sealing region;
• and
• two legs, wherein each of said stumps and each of said legs has an hourglass-shaped interface for interlocking the legs to the leg stumps, each hourglass shaped interface comprising a reduced diameter section positioned between two sloped sections, each sloped section extending between the reduced diameter section and one of a plurality of nominal diameter sections, the reduced diameter section having a greater radial strength than the nominal diameter sections.

A method for fabricating a braided stent comprising at least one circumferential elevation, the elevation comprising a first section of the stent having a first outer diameter that is greater than a second outer diameter of a second section of the stent distally adjacent the elevation and a third section of the stent proximally adjacent the elevation, the method comprising the steps of:

• (a) braiding a plurality of filaments together to create the braided stent having a tubular shape and comprising an interior and a plurality of overlapping filaments, the braided stent having a first configuration in which a plurality of first overlaps in the second section is positioned a first axial distance apart from a plurality of corresponding axially aligned second overlaps in the third section;
• and
• (b) connecting each of a plurality of the first overlaps to its corresponding axially-aligned second overlap on the interior of the braided tubular stent, using a filament with a length less than the first distance, so that the first section between the second section and the third section bulges radially outward to form the circumferential elevation.