Software in Medical Devices, by MD101 Consulting

A recurring question is the confusion, or more precisely the difference between software release of IEC 62304, and design transfer of ISO 13485.

We continue this series on validation of software used in production and QMS with the Validation Protocol and Reports.

The International Medical Device Regulators Forum opened a consultation on a draft document about the application of Quality Management System for Software as a Medical Device (SaMD).
The consultation was opened in march and will be closed the 1st of June.

Continuing with the schedule of the ISO TC 210 committee, let's see when the next versions of IEC 62304 and IEC 62366 will be released.

Continuing with ISO/DIS 13485:2014, after having made an overview of software-related changes in the last article, let's focus on the new clause #4.1.6.

Back to my blog after a while (you missed me :-)). After the previous article about usability, we're going to see the deployment of mobile medical apps. This article is the last of this series on clearance of mobile medical applications, before conclusion.

Don't worry, I'm not going to talk about money and quantitative easing! I let people with better knowledge in economics (that makes a lot of people!) do that.
When I talk about inflation, I mean the inflation of software medical devices in their number and variety, which creates a collateral inflation in the number of regulations, guidances, standards, and the like.
This post is the first of a series of three. In this first post, I focus on the inflation of standards. The next one will be on the inflation of regulations and the last one on the inflation of medical devices.

Here is a short description of ISO and IEC standards related to software and medical devices.

The starting point is legal. Government agencies give the authorizations to manufacturers to sell their devices. These agencies rely on standards to ensure that the device was designed and manufactured in a good and safe way. Given these regulations, private companies have to adhere to these standards. Full stop.
Let's see what these standards are.

General standards

Two ISO standards are of high importance for software medical devices: ISO 13485 and ISO 14971. They can be seen as the topmost standards for medical devices. They are very generic and apply to every medical device, from the simplest plaster to the most complex surgeon robot. As they are so generic, they don’t give a clue about software. Other standards do.