| abstract |
8he present invention relates to expandable metal stents (2) having an abluminal wall, a luminal wall and a radial wall thic therebetween, with struts (3) defining through-apertures in the wall, the stent further having a longitudinal axis and defining a plurality of expansible rings (4) arranged adjacent one another along the longitudinal axis of the stent, each of the rings defining at least one bridge strut (14A, 14B), and adjacent rings being linked by a bridge (12) extending between adjacent bridge struts on adjacent rings, the stent being characterised in that the bridges (12) exhibit reduced electrical conductivity throughout the wall thickness, and there are a plurality of said bridges, distributed throughout the length of the stent and configured and arranged to divide the tubular structure into axially spaced and electrically insulated sections. The present invention relates furthermore to a method of manufacturing such a stent. |