Tubular stents are formed from a sheet of material having longitudinally extending margins and an expandable pattern between the margins. The sheet can be formed to a tube with the margins overlapped and secured. The margins may be provided with means to facilitate registration of the margins....http://www.google.de/patents/US6102943?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US6102943 - Endoluminal stents and their manufacture
