The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing the availability of the draft guidance on EMC entitled ‘‘Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) of Medical Devices.’’ This new “draft” guidance document is intended to recommend information that should be provided in a premarket submissions to demonstrate electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) for electrically powered medical devices and medical...Read More

Why is a SR or NSR Designation important? The FDA guidance document, “Information Sheet Guidance For IRBs, Clinical Investigators, and Sponsors: Significant Risk and Nonsignificant Risk Medical Device Studies,” sheds some light on the Investigational Device Exemptions (IDE) regulations of 21 CFR 812. The IDE regulations describe significant risk (SR), nonsignificant risk (NSR), and exempt...Read More

FDA released their CDRH Proposed Guidance Updates that includes a significant amount of “software related” guidance in FY 2021. There are four separate guidance documents listed for publication in FY 2021. IMO that is a fairly large commitment from the agency and I will look forward to reading about the agency’s “current thinking” on these...Read More

Understanding OTS and SOUP is very important in every lifecycle stages of medical device and HealthIT software development.  In the late 1990’s, the US FDA first published guidance documentation on the use of Off-The-Shelf (OTS) software in medical devices (or sometimes referred to as “OTSS”).  At that time, OTSS generally accounted for a very small...Read More

The FDA recently announced the addition of 25 new tools to the Catalog of Regulatory Science Tools to help assess medical devices. CDRH catalogues regulatory science tools on this webpage to help improve the development and assessment of emerging medical technologies. Of the 25 tools added, some items of interest are: Laboratory Accuracy Evaluation of...Read More

On September 14, 2020 the Digital Health Team at FDA provided a 2020 Update on the Software Precertification Pilot Program. The announcement is a short 8-page document. The document provides the details that are driving program development. It contains a considerable amount of information that may take a few reads to fully understand. On my...Read More

Do you have a medical device cleared under Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) during the COVID-19 crisis? Section 564 of the FD&C Act allows the FDA to issue EUAs to otherwise unapproved medical products to be used in an emergency to diagnose, treat, or prevent serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions caused by CBRN threat agents...Read More

Why are clinical studies necessary? Medical device clinical studies provide evidence for a PMA submission. Under 21 CFR 860.7, the FDA relies only on “valid scientific evidence” to determine whether there is reasonable assurance that a device is safe and effective. Valid scientific evidence can originate from a variety of sources, including well-controlled studies. Even...Read More

An important lesson from a Warning Letter citing FB Claims: In this Warning Letter to SilveryGuy, dated August 14, 2020, FDA – CDER informed the recipient that they had evaluated the company’s website and Facebook (FB) page. This demonstrates that even social media claims can establish the intended use of a product. Be careful what your...Read More

Remember the 2005 guidance document, Guidance for the Content of Premarket Submissions for Software Contained in Medical Devices? In 2020 that guidance is as relevant as ever, and it can be useful to review what we know about the FDA’s expectations regarding Level of Concern (LOC) in medical devices. LOC is important if for no...Read More

June 11, 2020 Interesting excerpts from a warning letter implicating 820.30: “[A]s part of the Convenience Kit manufacturing process, your firm opens and removes the original packaging of the finished device components, including sterile devices, before assembling, repacking, and relabeling the components together in a finished kit . . . handling such products in an...Read More

List of Recently Added 510(k) Exemptions The table above comes from the Federal Register, and it explains the classification scheme (including new product codes) for the new 510(k) exemptions for Class II devices. Clearly, these five exemptions do not have far-reaching implications. This update from the FDA will likely only be significant to our clients...Read More

Electronic submissions to the FDA will soon no longer be optional – this new guidance requires e-submission for many types of submissions. The FDA final guidance document, Providing Regulatory Submissions for Medical Devices in Electronic Format – Submissions Under Section 745A(b) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, was issued on July 15, 2020. Under...Read More

Do you understand the Q-Sub Guidance? The FDA issued the guidance document Requests for Feedback and Meetings for Medical Device Submissions: The Q-Submission Program in 2019, but it has taken some time for the industry to understand all the facets of the program. The guidance covers a wide range of FDA submissions – IDE/PMA/HDE applications, de novo...Read More

On July 16, 2020, FDA issued 510(k) Approval for AI Imaging Analytics Device HealthMammo, a device manufactured by Zebra Medical Vision Ltd. As reported in the New York Times, HealthMammo is an artificial intelligence (AI) product that analyzes mammograms for suspicious lesions. Radiologists can use the HealthMammo results to prioritize which mammogram images need attention...Read More

The agency rule list for Spring 2020, accessible at https://www.reginfo.gov/public, announced that the “Medical Device De Novo Classification Process” rule is in the final rule stage. Although the FDA has previously written a guidance document about the De Novo process, they are taking the more formal step of agency rule-making regarding the topic as well....Read More

June 17, 2020 Excerpts from a warning letter of interest to software professionals: “During our inspection, our investigators observed specific deviations including, but not limited to, the following… 3. Failure to exercise sufficient controls over computerized systems to prevent unauthorized access or changes to data and failure to have adequate controls to prevent omission of...Read More

What is a Real-Time PMA Supplement? Section 737(4)(D) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act defines a Real-Time PMA Supplement as: “a supplement to an approved premarket application or premarket report under section 515 that requests a minor change to the device, such as a minor change to the design of the device, software,...Read More

(July 13, 2020) Amy Sellers, of Tampa, FL, USA, has joined SoftwareCPR as a Regulatory Associate.  Amy recently received her J.D. from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. She has experience in regulatory pathway decisions, including analysis of intended use and product claims, as well as analysis of design changes against US regulations...Read More

You are likely aware of the CAPA process overall and how it fits in to the quality management system for a medical device manufacturer or supplier.  Just the name itself, corrective and preventive action, describes one of the core values of quality management.  Surely we are all motivated to identify and correct problems and issues...Read More

Background of the Medical Software Functions Exclusion Most of those in the industry do not question whether the FDA has the authority to regulate software that qualifies as a device. However, there are many intricacies in the definitions of the 21st Century Cures Act – which, in 2016, amended the definition of medical devices in...Read More

On June 24, 2020, there was an update to the current status of FDA’s MDDT program. CDRH announced a new tool had qualified as MDDT. This is only the sixth tool to qualify since the MDDT Guidance document was finalized in 2017. See the list of qualified tools here: https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/science-and-research-medical-devices/medical-device-development-tools-mddt.   What is the Medical...Read More

FDA released a new guidance document titled, “Nonbinding Feedback After Certain FDA Inspections of Device Establishments, Guidance for Industry and Food and Drug Administration Staff.  This guidance was issued on April 22, 2020.  The background on the guidance states, “Timely nonbinding feedback can help device firms determine whether proposed actions to address inspectional observations are...Read More

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued this immediately in effect guidance: Enforcement Policy for Infusion Pumps and Accessories During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID- 19) Public Health Emergency.  FDA believes the policy set forth in this guidance may help address these urgent public health concerns by helping to expand the availability and remote capabilities...Read More

On February 25-26, 2020 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) held a public workshop to discuss the “Evolving Role of Artificial Intelligence in Radiological Imaging.” The comment period for the public workshop is extended to June 30, 2020, in response to requests for an extension to allow stakeholders additional time to submit comments.Read More

FDA Issues Immediately in Effect Guidance on Ventilators During COVID-19 Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued this immediately in effect guidance: Enforcement Policy for Ventilators and Accessories and Other Respiratory Devices During the Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) Public Health Emergency. The FDA believes the policy set forth in this guidance may help address...Read More

The US FDA released a new guidance document communicating a new policy intended to expand the use a hospital based vital signs equipment to include home use.  This policy changes is in response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Public Health Emergency.  You can download the guidance by clicking this link: Enforcement Policy for Non-Invasive...Read More

December 26, 2019 Excerpts from warning letter of interest to software professionals: “The inspection also revealed that your … LED light therapy devices are adulterated within the meaning of section 501(h) of the Act, 21 U.S.C. § 351(h), in that the methods used in, or the facilities or controls used for, their manufacture, packing, storage,...Read More

FDA is raising awareness among health care providers and facility staff that cybersecurity vulnerabilities in certain GE Healthcare Clinical Information Central Stations and Telemetry Servers may introduce risks to patients while being monitored.  Per the FDA notice: “A security firm has identified several vulnerabilities in certain GE Healthcare Clinical Information Center workstations and Telemetry Servers,...Read More

Going way back to the late 1990’s, FDA had an expectation that safe and effective software would require a well thought out development lifecycle that includes many activities designed to ensure the correctness and robustness of all software that was part of the medical device.  A key guidance document was created known as the General...Read More

How do I know if my device or my software is a medical device? Watch this helpful video and learn about the 513(g) process as well.  SoftwareCPR can help you plan your regulatory strategy and handle your regulatory submissions.  We would be delighted to help!Read More

Do you have a question about FDA Digital Health Regulatory Policy?  FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health has a resource to help. I know from personal experience that the Digital Health Team (DHT) at FDA focuses a lot of energy and effort on answering these questions in an effective and efficient manner. During my...Read More

This new draft guidance explains when a Type V DMF may be used to submit information regarding a combination product for which the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) has primary jurisdiction (i.e., CDER-led combination product) and the device portion has electronics and/or software that is planned to be used as a platform, that is,...Read More

The FDA and the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)/Office of Rare Diseases Research (ORDR) conducted this needs assessment to better understand unmet medical device needs for rare diseases – ultimately to raise public awareness of these unmet needs.  Let this motivate us all to explore, push limits, innovate, and invent.  Onward software...Read More

One of the first steps on the marketing pathway for a medical device is to classify your device. As technology and innovation continue to advance, determining how to classify a device can be complex and challenging. This session will provide information on interacting with FDA for device determination and an introduction to Section 513(g) Requests...Read More

URGENT/11 Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities in a Widely-Used Third-Party Software Component May Introduce Risks During Use of Certain Medical Devices The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is informing patients, health care providers and facility staff, and manufacturers about cybersecurity vulnerabilities that may introduce risks for certain medical devices and hospital networks. The FDA is not aware...Read More

Brian Pate has created this job aid to assist with explaining the separation of design input from the design process.  The diagram illustrates the "flow down" process of high level, intended use functionality traces downward to more detailed requirements and specifications.  Where do we draw the line with design input?  What should be the focus...Read More

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a suite of “Digital Health” guidances. The guidances issued today are a continuation of the Agencies efforts announced as part of the Digital Health Innovation Action Plan and address key provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act. The first guidance announced is Clinical Decision Support Software, a revised...Read More

Premarket Notifications (510(k)s), Premarket Approval Applications (PMAs), Premarket Reports (PMRs), notices, and supplements all have associated fees to be paid to the FDA before they will review a medical device product. The 2019 Medical Device User Fee Amendments (MDUFA) are listed at 2019 MDUFA. If the FDA determines that a manufacturer is a “small business”...Read More

Some thoughts on Requirements … using the General Principles of Software Validation to help. Many times we struggle with creating software requirements and documenting them.  The FDA General Principles of Software Validation-Final Guidance helps set the FDA expectations in this area.  Section 4.1 of the guidance states: “A documented software requirements specification provides a baseline for both...Read More

Cybersecurity issues arise when medical devices are capable of connecting to the Internet or other medical devices. Since the FDA is concerned with regulating the safety and effectiveness of medical devices, manufacturers must ensure that the computer systems of medical devices are protected against security breaches. The link below provides the FDA Fact Sheet entitled,...Read More

Patient Engagement Advisory Committee Meeting to Discuss Cybersecurity – September 10, 2019 On September 10, 2019 the FDA will hold a meeting of the Patient Engagement Advisory Committee. The committee provides advice to the FDA on complex issues relating to medical devices, the regulation of devices, and their use by patients. During the meeting the...Read More

Join the FDA and NITRD on July 17 for a Listening Session on Interoperability of Medical Devices On July 17, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and The Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program (NITRD) will host a listening session on the interoperability of medical devices, data and platforms. During the...Read More

The FDA is warning patients and health care providers that certain Medtronic MiniMed™ insulin pumps have potential cybersecurity risks. Patients with diabetes using these models should switch their insulin pump to models that are better equipped to protect against these potential risks.Read More

FDA announced the next phase of its Pre-Cert Test Plan implementation. Pre-Cert refers to the the pre-certification program that FDA’s Digital Health unit has been piloting. The program targets SaMD devices only at this time. This next phase seeks SaMD companies, willing to volunteer, that foresee a De Novo request or 510(k) submission within the...Read More

Today FDA issued a final guidance, “Requests for Feedback and Meetings for Medical Device Submissions: The Q-Submission Program.  Guidance for Industry and Food and Drug Administration Staff Document (May 7, 2019).  The FDA’s Q-Submission Program provides submitters an opportunity to have early collaboration and discussions about medical device submissions. In our opinion, early feedback and...Read More

In April 2019, FDA released a draft guidance providing manufacturers and FDA staff with detailed recommendations on assessing the technical performance of quantitative imaging devices and how the documentation from those assessments should be provided in premarket submissions. From a big picture perspective, one should remember the overall goal is to “provide performance specifications for...Read More

FDA’s final “Classification of Accessories Distinct from Other Devices; Finalized List of Accessories Suitable for Class” will be posted shortly at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/04/12/2019-07290/medical-devices-classification-of-accessories-distinct-from-other-devices-finalized-list-of. While this allows for certain accessories for higher class devices to be exempt from premarket notifications, the preamble has a section worth noting as a reminder for medical devices containing software. The preamble...Read More

From late 2015 to 2016, FDA and NCATS/ORDR at NIH conducted a needs assessment to better understand unmet medical device needs for rare diseases; generate meaningful data to inform patients, practitioners, policymakers, and device developers on the needs, barriers, and incentives related to medical device development for rare diseases; and increase public awareness of these...Read More

FDA Regulation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning in Software as a Medical Device On April 2, 2019, the FDA published a discussion paper “Proposed Regulatory Framework for Modifications to Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML)-Based Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) – Discussion Paper and Request for Feedback” that describes the FDA’s foundation for a...Read More