A prosthetic device for sustaining a vessel or hollow organ lumen (a stent)has a tubular wire frame (1) with rows ofelongate cells (2) having a larger axis and a smaller axis. The cells arearranged with the larger axis in the circumferential direction ofthe frame (2) and the smaller axis parallel to the axial direction thereof.Each cell is formed by two U-shaped wire sections, andin a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis one of the branches of the U-shaped wire sections in one row form together aclosed ring-shape (4) which provides the frame (1) with large radialstiffness. In the axial direction the frame (1) has only lowstiffness so that it easily conforms to the vascular wall even if this deformsdue to external loads. The interconnection between thecells (2) may be flexible.
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