Patent ID: 7942921

Claim:
A removable stent comprising: a plurality of annular segments arranged axially successively and interconnected to form a tubular support frame; one or more deflection elements coupled to at least one of the plurality of annular segments and positioned on a circumference of the tubular support frame; a thread at least partially encircling the tubular support frame outside of the circumference of the tubular support frame and positioned between annular segments, the thread having a first end and second end that are each guided by one of the one or more deflection elements from the outside of the tubular support frame into a position inside the tubular support frame; a connector positioned inside the tubular support frame to securely couple together the first and second thread ends, wherein displacement of the connector relative to the stent along a longitudinal axis of the stent results in contraction of at least two of the plurality of annular segments.