DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein like numerals indicate the same element throughout the views, there is shown in FIGS.
1 and 2 a stent 10 made in accordance with the present invention.
Stent 10 is shown in its collapsed condition ready to be disposed on a balloon catheter for delivery and subsequent deployment into a vessel of a patient.
Stent 10 includes at least two expandable grafts.
Stent 10 is shown as having three expandable grafts 20, 30 and 40 each having a first end, 22, 32 and 42, and a second end, 24, 34 and 44, and a wall surface, 26, 36 and 46, disposed therebetween.
The wall surface has a plurality of slots, for example 28, 38 and 48, formed therein.
The grafts are formed from a metal tube and the slots are cut therein, typically by laser cutting or photochemical processing.
After the slots are cut therein, each graft comprises a plurality of loops 50, 60 and 70, wherein adjacent loops are connected by at least one strut 52, 62 and 72.
Grafts 20 and 30 and 40 are connected together by at least one articulation 80, and grafts 30 and 40 are connected together by at least one articulation 90.
As seen from the figures, the articulations connect a loop from one graft to a loop from another graft.
However, it is preferable that the articulation does not connect one loop of one stent to a loop of another stent directly across it.
In stead it connects the loops along a curved path which is angled with respect to the longitudinal axis of the stent running through the lumen.
The particular design of the present stent and its advantages are best understood by describing the materials the stent is made from and how the slots and articulations are cut therefrom.
By referring to FIG.
3, stent 10 is made from a multi laminate hollow tube, or hypotube as it is often referred to by those skilled in the art, having at least two layers, wherein one layer is made from a plastically deformable material, such as stainless steel or titanium, and the inner layer is made from a superelastic material such as Nitinol
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Heart Surgery 
