Endovascular prosthesis and a method of connecting a structural component and a woven graft material

An endovascular prosthesis, comprising:

• a woven graft material having a proximal end, a distal end, a length from the proximal end to the distal end, a circumference, a luminal surface and an abluminal surface;
• a structural component supporting the length and circumference of the woven graft material, the structural component selected from the group consisting of a stent extending from the proximal end to the distal end and a plurality of stents along the length of the woven graft material;
• wherein the stent or the plurality of stents are connected to the graft material along its entire length and circumference by direct attachment of the stent or plurality of stents to the graft material at thermoplastically fused regions along the entire length and about the entire circumference of the graft material;
• wherein the thermoplastically fused regions are disposed along the entire length and circumference of the of the graft material and comprise 30% or less of the graft material,
• wherein the thermoplastically fused regions are melted regions of graft material that have lost some or all of its woven attributes, and
• wherein the remainder of the graft material retains its woven attribute,
• wherein the graft material comprises an interior region between the abluminal and luminal surfaces, and wherein the stent or the plurality of stents comprises a stent segment having a length and four sides, wherein the four sides consist of:
• a contacting face, which is substantially parallel to and in contact with the abluminal surface;
• a first edge and a second edge, wherein the first and second edges are on opposite sides of the stent segment and are substantially perpendicular to the abluminal surface and the contacting face;
• and an opposing face, which is located on the opposite side of the stent segment from the contacting face, and
• wherein the contacting face, the first edge and the second edge of each stent are substantially enclosed by a thermoplastically fused region of the thermoplastically fused regions.