Stent having helical elements

An expandable stent comprising:

• a first non-helical endzone;
• a second non-helical endzone;
• a generally cylindrically shaped main body having a cylindrical axis, the main body located between the first and second endzones and comprising:
• a plurality of adjacent cylindrical main body elements having cylindrical axes collinear with the main body cylindrical axis, the adjacent cylindrical main body elements connected together and comprising:
• a plurality of first expandable circumferential segments having a circumferential dimension;
• and
• a plurality of second expandable circumferential segments having a circumferential dimension that is less than the first expandable segment circumferential dimension, each of the second expandable segments connected to two first expandable segments via substantially H-shaped connecting segments;
• and
• wherein the cylindrical main body elements are joined by connecting together, via substantially H-shaped connecting segments, second expandable circumferential segments of adjacent cylindrical main body elements in helical patterns, thereby forming a plurality of generally parallel helixes in the main body.

An expandable stent that, when in an unexpanded state, comprises:

• a cylindrical axis,
• a cylindrical main body about the cylindrical axis, the main body comprising:
• a plurality of main body cylindrical elements having collinear cylindrical axes, the main body cylindrical elements being adjacent to one another and connected to one another by helical segments comprising expandable circumferential segments and substantially H-shaped connecting segments,
• wherein the helical segments comprise
• a plurality of first expandable helical segments having a first pitch and a plurality of second expandable helical segments having a second pitch that differs in value from the first pitch, and wherein the first helical segments cross the second helical segments and the first and second helical segments are attached to each other via substantially H-shaped connecting segments.

An expandable stent comprising:

• a plurality of first expandable segments;
• a plurality of second expandable segments;
• a plurality of adjacent cylindrical main body elements having collinear cylindrical axes, the cylindrical main body elements formed by connecting first expandable segments with second expandable segments via substantially H-shaped connecting segments;
• a plurality of first helical segments having a pitch, the first helical segments formed by connecting first expandable segments from adjacent cylindrical elements with each other;
• and
• a plurality of second helical segments formed by connecting second expandable segments from adjacent cylindrical elements with each other, wherein the second helical segments have a pitch that differs from the pitch of the first helical segments.