Flexible expandable stent

A stent formed of a unitary tube having a patterned shape for insertion into a lumen in which it may be expanded, comprising:

• a. even first meander patterns having axes extending in a first direction;
• b. odd first meander patterns also having axes extending in said first direction, wherein said odd first meander patterns are 180° out of phase with said even first meander patterns and occur between every two even first meander patterns;
• c. second meander patterns having axes extending in a second direction, different than said first direction, wherein said second meander patterns intersect with said even and odd first meander patterns to form generally uniform cells structure;
• d. wherein said first and said second meander patterns comprise loops;
• e. wherein at least one loop of each of said second meander patterns is between each odd and even first meander pattern;
• f. said loops of said second meander patterns containing at least a portion having a smaller width.

A stent formed of a unitary tube having a patterned shape for insertion into a lumen in which it may be expanded, comprising:

• a. even first meander patterns having axes extending in a first direction;
• b. odd first meander patterns also having axes extending in said first direction, wherein said odd first meander patterns are 180° out of phase with said even first meander patterns and occur between every two even first meander patterns;
• c. second meander patterns having axes extending in a second direction, different than said first direction, wherein said second meander patterns intersect with said even and odd first meander patterns to form generally uniform cells;
• d. wherein said first and said second meander patterns comprise loops;
• e. wherein at least one loop of each of said second meander patterns is between each odd and even first meander pattern;
• f. wherein at least some of said loops of said second meander patterns are more flexible than the loops of said first meander patterns, so that a distance between first meander patterns is maintained upon expansion.

An expandable stent for supporting a vessel, wherein in the expanded and deployed state, the stent consists of:

• a. first meander patterns having loops, the first meander patterns being longitudinally spaced from each other and having axes extending in a first direction;
• and
• b. second meander patterns having loops, the second meander patterns having axes extending in a second direction, different than the first direction;
• c. wherein the first and second meander patterns are interconnected to form a tubular structure;
• d. wherein the first meander patterns are connected to the second meander patterns so as to leave at least one loop of each of the second meander patterns in the space between each pair of adjacent first meander patterns;
• e. wherein the second meander patterns are connected to the first meander patterns so as to leave no more than two loops of each of the first meander patterns between each pair of adjacent second meander patterns;
• and
• f. wherein said first and second meander patterns are adapted to cooperate so that, when the expanded stent is in a curved vessel, on the outside of the curve, a circumferential compression and horizontal expansion of the loops in said second meander pattern substantially compensates for a horizontal compression and circumferential expansion of the loops in said first meander pattern and on the inside of the curve.