Patent ID: 8652192

Claim:
A vascular stent without an outer sheath or sleeve extending about the stent during delivery or use, the stent comprising: a cylindrical wall radially expandable from a compressed state to an expanded state, with an outer sheath or sleeve extending about the all of the stent during delivery or use, and including a plurality of cells, at least one cell including a first primary member having a first integral restrainer member and a second primary member having a second integral restrainer member, wherein, when the cylindrical wall is in the expanded state, the first and second primary members are located a greater distance from each other than when the cylindrical wall is in the compressed state, wherein the first restrainer member includes a rounded male restrainer portion and the second restrainer member includes a rounded female restrainer portion configured to receive the rounded male portion, and the first and second restrainer members join by insertion of the rounded male restrainer portion through an inlet opening of the rounded female restrainer portion in a direction of movement of the first and second primary members relative to each other to maintain the cylindrical wall in the compressed state; wherein the rounded male restrainer portion and the rounded female restrainer portion each include a slot to assist the restrainer portions in deforming while coupling together or while decoupling, wherein an expansion force applied to the cylindrical wall causes the first and second restrainer members to separate, thereby freeing the cylindrical wall to expand from the compressed state to the expanded state, wherein the vascular stent is formed around a balloon catheter and the expansion force is the inflation of a balloon of the balloon catheter.