Stent graft

[0027]Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a stent graft 10 in accordance with the prior art. A proximal end stent 11 is substantially bare, that is only a relatively small part of the stent is covered with graft material 12. For most of its length, the wire forming stent 11 has no graft material on either side; at intervals, relatively short lengths of the wire have graft material on all sides. The next stent 14 is completely covered by the graft material. Viewed in the sideways or radial direction of the Figure, the end 16 of the graft material is a straight line. The graft material 12 and the stent members 11, 14 attached thereto are substantially circular in cross-section.

[0028]As seen in FIG. 1, the distal peaks 21 of stent 11 overlap the proximal peaks 22 of the next stent 12 in the longitudinal direction. The peaks 21 and 22 alternate in regular manner around the periphery of the stent graft.

[0029]Problems can arise when compressing the stent graft 10 for passage through a re