axis of the stent 10 this occurs because the anchors 14 are positioned within the stent 10 when the stent 10 is in a relaxed state as shown in fig3 due to the configuration of the anchors 14 in combination with the stiffness of the material the anchors 14 will point in a respective direction either outwardly or inwardly when a force is applied to the stent 10 because the bending force will be transmitted along the length of the anchors 14 without bending at the tip of the anchor itself this occurrence can be manipulated by altering the design and material selection of the anchor 14 to achieve a greater or lesser spring action fig4 and 5 show examples of alternate embodiments of the v shaped members of the present invention fig4 illustrates a stent 20 with anchors 24 incorporated into stent body 22 the anchors 24 having a thicker body than that of anchor 14 fig5 illustrates a stent 30 having anchors 34 that are integral with a stent body 32 fig6 shows a portion of the abdominal aortic artery of a patient connected in its upper part with thoracic artery 50 and branching into two iliac arteries 54 and 56 the abdominal aorta presents an aneurysm 52 the stent 10 is incorporated into a aaa prosthesis 40 for treatment of the artery and is shown in its deployed condition so that anchors 14 are engaging the wall of the artery 50 in this embodiment.