Patent ID: 8794230

Claim:
An oropharyngeal stent comprising: (a) an anterior part with posteriorly facing concavity, a proximal end and a distal end; (b) a posterior part with anteriorly facing concavity, a proximal end and a distal end; (c) a joint that hingedly attaches the anterior and posterior parts via articulants thereby allowing the stent to transition between two states: a first state in which a complete distal lumen is formed as the distal ends of the anterior and posterior parts are a positioned; and a second state in which a complete proximal lumen is formed as the proximal ends of the anterior and posterior parts are apositioned; wherein the articulants are positioned on the stent such that, when the stent is in the second state, the articulants are completely external to the proximal lumen; and (d) a coupling for reversibly affixing the proximal ends of the posterior and anterior parts to one another thereby reversibly securing the stent in the second state; whereby when the stent is positioned in an oropharynx in the second state, passage of entities via said oropharynx is eased by distraction of oropharyngeal obstructions by the distal ends of the anterior and posterior parts.