| CPC A61F 2/89 (2013.01) [A61F 2/07 (2013.01); A61F 2/915 (2013.01); A61F 2002/072 (2013.01); A61F 2002/91541 (2013.01); A61F 2002/91583 (2013.01); Y10T 29/49826 (2015.01)] | 12 Claims |

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1. A system for interconnecting members coupling a plurality of radially expandable rings of a stent device together, the system comprising:
a plurality of radially expandable rings;
a plurality of the interconnecting members, each of the interconnecting members comprising:
a first coupling end directly connected to a first one of the radially expandable rings;
a second coupling end opposite the first coupling end and directly connected to a second one of the radially expandable rings; and
an elongate portion connected between the first coupling end and the second coupling end, wherein the first coupling end, the elongate portion, and the second coupling end combine in a first orientation or a second orientation that is substantially a mirror image of the first orientation,
wherein each of the plurality of the interconnecting members has a fusiform shape in which a width of each interconnecting member at a center of the elongate portion is a widest position of each interconnecting member, wherein each interconnecting member narrows along its length in both directions from the center of the elongate portion, and wherein the first coupling end forms a first end of the fusiform shape and the second coupling end forms a second end of the fusiform shape.
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