cross section connector as shown in fig6 offers the potential to u201c skew u201d the stresses undergone by the stent matrix when expanding into the deployed configuration to such an extent as to displace facing peaks of the zig zag rings circumferentially with respect to each other by just enough to carry each peak into a position between two facing peaks of the next adjacent zig zag stenting ring the better able to accommodate strain on the inside of a bend such as at position 28 in fig3 in some applications of stents a high degree of plaque control is called for stents for the carotid artery is an example control is achieved by use of closed cell matrix structures with a small mesh size and a relatively large number of connectors between adjacent stenting turns an increasing number of connector struts reduces stent flexibility the present invention offers a way to mitigate the flexibility problem without reducing the number of connector struts and thus can be particularly helpful in such applications the method of manufacture takes an appropriately sized tubular workpiece stenting turns are cut from this workpiece using a laser in the conventional way that is the laser beam follows a predetermined design pattern to form stenting struts to produce the stenting turns in producing the stenting struts the laser beam will be aimed to pass through the longitudinal axis of the tubular workpiece the connector struts are cut by aiming the laser beam in an offset manner.