Technology originally developed for one of the most sophisticated and advanced active implantable medical devices - cochlear implants - has been key to the development of 3WIN NV's deep brain stimulation device. The Flemish start-up's neurostimulator Synapse is designed to reduce collateral stimulation through the precise delivery of an electrical charge; as well as record the neural response to better target therapy for movement disorders.
Device and diagnostics companies should start thinking about products they would like to offer for evaluation under a new program in the U.K. Read more...
Device and pharmaceutical companies have been battered by government and congressional investigations of their domestic marketing practices. They now face increased scrutiny on another front as the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission are stepping up their investigation of corporate corruption and bribery abroad. Read more...
Japan has already hired 12 of the 13 new device reviewers it pledged to add by year end, bringing its total to 47 as of April, according to a July 6 report. U.S. device industry reps are pleased. Find out more...
The European Commission says it will move ahead with plans to overhaul the European Union's medical device regulatory framework next year, and hopes to impose a "modern set of rules" by 2015. Find out more...
Full article reprinted from "The Gray Sheet" - November 17, 2008
U.S. device manufacturers are pushing for more guidance on ways to comply with new European requirements for devices containing chemicals classified as "substances of very high concern."
Find out what Zurich-based Levitronix is doing with the help of the FDA to better understand the root cause of two adverse events that led to a Class I recall of its CentriMag extracorporeal blood pumping system, along with the CentriMag primary and back-up consoles.
EU medical device regulation news: Find out why some in the device industry are pushing back against strong suggestions from the European government that it may move toward more aggressive, centralized oversight of medical devices.
Find out why device companies operating in Europe should develop internal plans to avoid "dawn raids" by the European Commission or a national competition authority aimed at investigating potential anti-competitive practices.
The European Union is taking its first steps towards determining whether to create a uniform policy on the reprocessing of medical devices labeled for single use.
At this early stage of the process, even the most basic issues - such as how to define reprocessing to distinguish it from refurbishing - are still up for discussion.
Some individual countries in Europe have single-use device (SUD) reprocessing laws, in some cases outlawing it and in others allowing it under regulatory oversight.
A regulatory approach in the U.S. has evolved during the past decade in which reprocessed devices are subject to risk-based pre-market review and post-market requirements, including validation of a reprocessor's sterilization and cleaning processes.