Patent ID: 8257427

Claim:
A stent comprising: a tubular body made up of a plurality of separate, radially expandable, tubular elements aligned along a common longitudinal axis, each tubular element being physically unconnected to any other tubular element when the tubular elements are radially expanded, wherein at least some of the tubular elements each comprise a plurality of closed cell elements, each closed cell element joined to a circumferentially-adjacent closed cell element by a circumferentially-extending linking member, each circumferentially-extending linking member being attached to two circumferentially-neighboring closed cell elements at respective spaced apart attachment points, wherein each closed-cell element comprises a pair of side members narrowing inwardly towards a side hinge to form a waist portion, wherein at least some of the closed cell elements comprise an inter-engaging element engageable with a corresponding inter-engaging element on an adjacent tubular element holding the adjacent tubular elements together when engaged, at least in an unexpanded condition of the stent, wherein the inter-engaging element comprises the pair of side members narrowing inwardly towards side hinge forming the waist portion such that two waist portions on circumferentially adjacent closed cell elements act together to retain the corresponding inter-engaging element on the adjacent tubular element; wherein corresponding inter-engaging elements are movable relative to each other along the longitudinal axis when engaged allowing longitudinal movement between adjacent interlocked adjacent tubular elements so as to allow for increased flexibility of the stent in the unexpanded configuration and reduce shortening of the stent during expansion.