Stent for placement in living body and stent delivery system

A stent for placement in a living body, the stent comprising:

• a plurality of axially extending wave-shaped struts which are circumferentially arranged in a substantially cylindrical form, each of the plurality of wave-shaped struts extending in an axial direction from one axial end of the stent to an opposite axial end of the stent;
• each of the axially extending wave-shaped struts possessing a plurality of alternating and axially spaced apart points, the points including upper points which are mountains of the wave-shaped strut, the points also including lower points which are valleys of the wave-shaped strut;
• the points on each of the axially extending wave-shaped struts being circumferentially aligned with points on others of the axially extending wave-shaped struts;
• at least some of the circumferentially aligned points in each pair of circumferentially adjacent wave-shaped struts being located in closer sections of the stent, and at least some of the circumferentially aligned points in each pair of the circumferentially adjacent wave-shaped struts being located in farther sections of the stent;
• the points of the circumferentially adjacent wave-shaped struts located in the closer sections being positioned closer together than the points of the circumferentially adjacent wave-shaped struts located in the farther sections;
• a plurality of connection struts interconnecting the axially extending wave-shaped struts which are circumferentially adjacent so that every pair of axially extending wave-shaped struts which are circumferentially adjacent one another are interconnected by at least one of the connection struts, the connection struts each having a center;
• each connection strut interconnecting the axially extending wave-shaped struts at the closer section;
• each connection strut including two linear segments and a bent center portion positioned between the two linear segments, the bent center portion of each connection strut extending in an axial direction of the stent;
• the closer sections comprising first closer sections and second closer sections;
• the connection struts comprising first connection struts and second connection struts;
• the plurality of wave-shaped struts including a plurality of first wave-shaped struts and a plurality of second wave-shaped struts, each of the second wave-shaped struts being positioned circumferentially between two of the first wave-shaped struts;
• the plurality of first wave-shaped struts each including a plurality of the upper points and a plurality of the lower points, the plurality of second wave-shaped struts each including a plurality of the upper points and a plurality of the lower points;
• the upper points of each first wave-shaped strut and the lower points of a first respective circumferentially adjacent one of the second wave-shaped struts being substantially in face-to-face relation with each other and forming the first closer sections;
• the lower points of each first wave-shaped strut and the upper points of a second respective circumferentially adjacent one of the second wave-shaped struts being substantially in face-to-face relation with each other and forming the second closer sections;
• the first connection struts interconnecting all of the upper points of the first wave-shaped struts and all of the lower points of the second wave-shaped struts which form the first closer sections;
• and
• the second connection struts interconnecting all of the lower points of the first wave-shaped struts and all of the upper points of the second wave-shaped struts which form the second closer sections.