Patent ID: 8460363

Claim:
A stent being expandable from an unexpanded state to an expanded state, the stent comprising at least one module having an elongate central portion and a buckle component, the central portion comprising a belt component and at least one guide rail, the belt component and the guide rail being slidably interconnected to form a first expandable mechanism, the first expandable mechanism being configured to permit the module to expand in a circumferential direction, the central portion further comprising a plurality of teeth, wherein the central portion of a first module can be slidably disposed through the buckle component of a second module to provide a second expandable mechanism configured to permit the first and second modules to slide relative to each other from the unexpanded state to the expanded state, the at least one module further comprising a first terminal end and a second terminal end, the first terminal end at one end of the module, the second terminal end at a circumferentially opposite end of the module, wherein at least one flexible member extends generally uninterrupted from the first terminal end to the second terminal end.