A coronary stent is disclosed herein as having a lattice configuration on a generally thin-walled cylindrical tube. This particular stent is fabricated using an elongated thin-walled tubular solid that has a diameter equal to that of the final expanded configuration of the stent. In other words, the lattice configuration is cut onto the surface of the tubular solid that has a diameter substantially equal to the inner diameter of the blood vessel for which the stent is intended. The tubular lattice is then shrunk (collapsed) axisymmetrically to a new cylindrical configuration with a diameter substantially less than the blood vessel for which the stent is intended. The stent in its reduced diameter state can then be delivered to a desired site in the body via a catheter with an inflatable balloon at its distal portion. Upon the inflation of the balloon, the stent will assume its expanded, deployed configuration into the original diameter at the desired site in the body.
