Flexible stent design

A tubular flexible stent having proximal and distal end portions and a cylindrical shape, with luminal and abluminal surfaces and a thickness there between, the cylindrical shape defining a longitudinal axis, the tubular flexible stent comprising:

• a helical section having of a plurality of longitudinally oriented strut members and a plurality of circumferentially oriented arcuate hinge members connecting circumferentially adjacent strut members to form a band, the band being wrapped about the longitudinal axis in a substantially helical manner to form a plurality of helical windings, each strut member having a substantially rectangular shape with opposing longitudinally oriented long sides and opposing circumferentially oriented short sides, each hinge member being connected to the circumferentially adjacent strut member along the short side of the strut member and each hinge member having a substantially thinner maximal width than the short side of the strut members and a length less than the long side of the strut members;
• and at least one connector member extending between longitudinally adjacent helical windings of the band, the connector member being attached to the short sides of longitudinally adjacent strut members, said connector member not being attached to longitudinally adjacent hinge members.