Importance

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Abstract

An improved stent provides mechanical anchoring of the stent to a blood or other body vessel. The stent has, in a preferred embodiment, barbs which remain within the surface of the stent when the stent is in its unexpanded condition, but which extend from the surface of the stent when the stent is expanded. These barbs are adapted to engage, for example, a graft and/or the inner layers of a blood vessel to mechanically attach the stent to the vessel. Because friction is not solely relied upon to hold the stent in place, the stent may exert less force on the blood vessel which, in turn, means that a thinner stent requiring less force for expansion may be used. In addition, there may be less radial force permanently exerted in an artery after stent deployment which may be less injurious to the vessel.

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First Claim