Patent ID: 8282680

Claim:
A stent structure comprising: a plurality of radially expansible closed cell rings arranged along an axial line, each of the rings having an unexpanded crimped configuration suitable for mounting on a delivery catheter for delivery into a blood vessel and an expanded configuration in which an expanded ring engages a wall of the vessel, wherein at least some of the axially adjacent rings are separable from an adjacent ring and wherein at least some of the axially separable rings comprise axially extending closed cell structures which, when the radially expansible closed cell rings are in the unexpanded crimped configuration, interleave with axially extending closed cell structures on an adjacent separable ring, without interlocking with the adjacent separable ring, none of the axially extending closed cell structures constraining axial separation of the adjacent rings in the unexpanded crimped configuration, and wherein the axially extending closed cell structures widen as the rings are expanded and wherein at least some of the axially separable rings further comprise spacers which engage the axially extending closed cell structures on adjacent rings to provide a preselected spacing between adjacent rings upon radial expansion, wherein the spacer comprises an axially extending strut having an axial extension length, the axially extending strut disposed between two adjacent axially extending closed cell structures on the same ring, the two adjacent axially extending closed cell structures having an axial length greater than the axial extension length of the strut.