A biocompatible material may be configured into any number of implantable
medical devices including intraluminal stents. Polymeric materials may be
utilized to fabricate any of these devices, including stents. The stents
may be balloon expandable or self-expanding. The polymeric materials may
include additives such as drugs or other bioactive agents as well as
radiopaque agents. By preferential mechanical deformation of the polymer,
the polymer chains may be oriented to achieve certain desirable
performance characteristics. The stent has a plurality of hoop components
interconnected by at least one flexible connector. The hoop components
are formed as a continuous series of alternating substantially
longitudinally oriented strut members and connector junction struts,
whereas the longitudinal strut is connected to the connector junction
strut by alternating substantially circumferentially oriented arc
members.