the troughs 13 include the open spaces between adjacent substantially linear struts 14 that are connected to a curved member 16 that forms the respective peak 12 each peak 12 points in a direction that is opposite that of the immediately preceding or following circumferentially positioned peak 12 the same is true of the troughs 13 each trough 13 points in a direction that is opposite the immediately preceding or following circumferentially positioned trough in the embodiment illustrated in fig1 and 2 the peaks 12 all face in the one direction toward a first end 54 of the stent 20 similarly the troughs 13 all face in one direction toward a second end 56 of the stent 20 which is opposite the first end each circumferential support element 22 is connected to a longitudinally adjacent circumferential support element 22 by a respective bridge element 24 fig1 and 2 as shown the bridge elements 24 connect peaks of adjacent and circumferentially out of phase peaks 12 of adjacent support elements 22 as a result adjacent support elements 22 can be rigidly spaced from each other at the area where they are joined by the bridge element 24 in the embodiment shown in fig1 and 2 only a limited number of bridge elements 24 are provided between respective adjacent support elements 22 for example adjacent support elements 22 may be connected to each other by between about one and three bridge elements 24 in an embodiment only one bridge element 24 extends between adjacent support elements 22 if too many bridge elements 24 are provided.