US Patent 7323008 Flexible stent

A stent device including a stent body having a plurality of adjacent rows and one or more interconnections or interlocking rings between rows. The interconnections have first and second connecting portions with first ends permanently and immovably coupled to the rows and second ends interlocked with each other, such that the second ends of each portion can move independently of the other. The interconnections include ball and socket joints, hinge joints or universal joints. Interlocking rings have indentations for receiving the other ring, such that when interlocked, the rings will lay flat against a body lumen wall.