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This content is only available to Standards Navigator subscribers.  See our Subscribe page for information on subscriptions. Standards and Regulatory Activity Overview Medical device software Two webinars will be held for the National Committees of IEC/SC 62A and the Member Bodies of ISO/TC 215, Health informatics, as well as the Member Bodies of ISO/TC 210, Quality management...
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The latest communication from FDA regarding regulation of medical apps notes that mobile medical apps can greatly help patients be proactive and vigilant about their own healthcare. There has been increased demand for medical apps, and many of the apps depend on high levels of feedback between patients and clinicians. The FDA wants to regulate...
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What concerns FDA when conducting a benefit-risk assessment of medical devices?  The answer is a long list of variables that can vary by type of device, target population, and indications for use, but the clear focus is on patient safety and benefit. The FDA considers both the device benefit-risk assessment, as well as evidence and...
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Software-based medical devices tend to develop more quickly than typical hardware-based medical devices; so, in response, the FDA has turned to an agile regulatory model for software as a medical device (“SaMD”). The FDA describes the Software Precertification Program as a voluntary pathway, with tailored assessments of the safety and effectiveness of software technologies. Rather...
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The latest communication from FDA regarding regulation of medical apps notes that mobile medical apps can greatly help patients be proactive and vigilant about their own healthcare.  There has been increased demand for medical apps, and many of the apps depend on high levels of feedback between patients and clinicians.  The FDA wants to regulate...
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Here is the report for June/July, 2018. SoftwareCPRStandardsNavigatorReportfor2018-07
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Prepared a visual aide (one of many we use in our training courses) of key Medical Devices Standards and FDA guidance related to software.  Enjoy! SoftwareCPR Sw Stds Guidances
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This update addresses International and US National medical device standards (“a view of the landscape”) being developed or revised that may be of interest to developers of software for medical devices or healthcare. Some of these standards are used directly for regulatory purposes and others may be valuable in demonstrating to regulatory authorities that a...
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This content is only available to Premium level and Standards Navigator subscribers.  See our Subscribe page for information on subscriptions. SoftwareCPR has prepared a collection of production and process validation material suitable for training in Production and Quality Systems 820.70(i) Validation including Part 11.  Portions could be made into handouts or provided electronically.  Download the manual...
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On Dec. 14, 2017, the FDA released a Draft guidance dated Dec. 15, 2017 “The Least Burdensome Provisions: Concept and Principles.” This guidance discusses FDA’s intent and approach to applying Least Burdensome Principles to the total product lifecycle for medical devices based on requirements in FDAMA (Public Law 105-115), the FDA Safety and Innovation Act...
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Summary of primary medical device standards as well as standards specific to Medical Device and Health IT software
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FDA regulation of Medical Device Data Systems has changed significantly over the years. This, together with the blurred line between MDDS and general health information technology, interfaces between MDDS and regulated medical devices, the actual criteria for deciding if something is classified as a Medical Device Data System, and different regulatory requirements outside the US...
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I don’t even really like to use the word retrospective
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A short, short time ago, in this very own galaxy some companies were not making blockbusters, but medical devices. Whispers of quicker development times and better testing made the way past the water cooler until it became time to indulge and implement the mythical software development lifecycle. With the changes came weird language and rumors...
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Testing activities should neither end with the release of the product nor once test documentation is complete, but should continue with the reduction of any test debt. Test debt is essentially a form of technical debt. Like technical debt, test debt is incurred during a project when compromises are made in the creation of test...
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A security company indicated the following: … many companies received emails from Amazon indicating that their AWS S3 bucket policies were left configured as “publicly accessible”. These publicly accessible policies allow potentially sensitive cloud data exposed to cybersecurity threats, and likely are not the intention of the Amazon customers. Amazon recommended that each “bucket” policy...
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Here are some thoughts from a recent conversation between Sherman Eagles, Brian Pate, and Alan Kusinitz of SoftwareCPR®: Cybersecurity vulnerabilities can have unpredictable effects on safety.  Unpredictable effects … to those who have worked to reduce risks of software failures in medical device software, that phrase may be familiar.  That concept is explained in relation to...
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This document provides Sherman Eagle's June 2017 standards status update to be used with the Standards Landscape document. It provides a summary of status updates to primary medical device standards as well as standards specific to Medical Device and Health IT software including Cybersecurity and systems and software engineering standards.
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Cybersecurity firm Sophos published an article on Medical Device cybersecurity and David Overton of SoftwareCPR® suggested we post this as it may be of interest. David pointed out these statements: A significant percentage of medical devices are not secure. Most medical device manufacturers do not take serious steps to secure their devices for two reasons:...
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This content is only available to Premium and higher subscribers.  See our Subscribe page for information on subscriptions. Created a job aide which compares the IEC 62304 and IEC 82304 elements for requirements. This is only intended to be used as a starting point and requires interpretation based on knowledge of each standard and the type of...
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This content is only available to Premium and higher subscribers.  See our Subscribe page for information on subscriptions. Use this as a starting point to gather information on the software development environment (and related information) as required in FDA’s Guidance for Software Information to be included in open market submissions. It is only intended as a starting...
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Although IEC 82304-1 Health Software: General requirements for safety has been published it is not clear when it will be harmonized in the EU. Nonetheless it appears EU notified bodies are treating it as “state-of-the-art” and are likely to expect it to be used for software products that are regulated as medical devices. IEC TR...
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This content is only available to Premium and higher subscribers.  See our Subscribe page for information on subscriptions. SoftwareCPR checklist for “IEC 82304-1: Health software – Part 1: General requirements for product safety.”  Download: IEC 82304 SoftwareCPR Checklist SoftwareCPR can provide conformance assessments, training, or expert consultation for efficient use and implementation of 82304 for medical device...
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This content is only available to Standards Navigator and Standards Navigators PLUS subscribers.  See our Subscribe page for information on subscriptions. This document provides a summary of primary medical device standards as well as standards specific to Medical Device and Health IT software including Cybersecurity and systems and software engineering standards. It includes an assessment of how...
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This document provides a summary of primary medical device standards as well as standards specific to Medical Device and Health IT software including Cybersecurity and systems and software engineering standards. It includes an assessment of how the standards will impact the development of medical device and Health IT software. This is truly a MUST READ...
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This content is only available to Premium and higher subscribers.  See our Subscribe page for information on subscriptions. The attached pdf file contains all Part 11 related warning letter excerpts included on this site as of the date above.  This file is updated periodically, but for the most recent warning letters between these updates, do text...
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This document is the result of an industry-led initiative of the European Commission. It is targeted at app developers and its purpose is to foster justified trust among users of mHealth apps which process personal data. Standards Navigator Draft Health Code of Conduct
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The link provided is our revised checklist for changes in Amendment 1. You will need to login as a paid subscriber to download this checklist.
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Click here to view a summary of my highlights and rationale, along with some practical implementation tips for the new ISO 13485:2016:  SoftwareCPR-ISO13485 revision March 2016 highlights Some of the revisions add items included in FDA’s 21 CFR 820 Quality System Regulation such as Design Transfer, Validation of automation of quality system activities, detailed records, and...
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This content is only available to Premium and higher subscribers.  See our Subscribe page for information on subscriptions. It contains a training aid that provides an overview comparison between the 2015 Amendment of IEC 62304 and FDA requirements based on 62304 Safety Classes. SCPRed_SoftwareCPR-FDA-62304SafetyClasscomparisonTrainingAide
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This content is only available to Premium and higher subscribers.  See our Subscribe page for information on subscriptions. A sample checklist for releasing or updating software is at the link provided. GoLiveiChecklistTrainingExample111115  
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/docs/scpred/standardsnavigator/SoftwareCPRStandardsNavigatorReport2015-1.pdf
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This content is only available to Premium and higher subscribers.  See our Subscribe page for information on subscriptions. It contains all software and computer related recall excerpts for the years listed. Some of the newest recalls on the site may not be included. This compilation is provided in reverse chronological order and is useful for quick review,...
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/docs/scpred/StandardsNavigator/SoftwareCPRStandardsNavigatorReport2014-11.pdf
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Brian Pate of SoftwareCPR suggest that a good rule of thumb is: If differences in the final product, produced by two different development groups using the same specification element, resulted in unacceptable differences in safety or efficacy then it would likely be a “requirement”. Otherwise it is most likely to be a design specification. This...
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This content is only available to our Premium subscribers. See our Subscribe page for information on subscriptions. In SoftwareCPR training classes on IEC 62304 and FDA regulation, we sometimes use a fabricated example of a vertical slice of software documentation. This example includes requirements specification, risk analysis, design, and testing along with commentary for one functional...
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A January 2014 ACM Journal has an interesting article on software verification at NASA JPL for the Mars Curiosity Rover at the link provided. A few things that I found interesting: Their standard for flight software is ISO-C99. The coding standard at JPL (http://lars-lab.jpl.nasa.gov/JPL_Coding_Standard_C.pdf) is risk-based and has 6 “levels of compliance”. LOC-5 and LOC-6...
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Test driven development (TDD) is the creation and execution of automated tests early in development which fail, by design, until a programmed element is implemented. There are many terms to describe the process, but few will refute its value. Re-discovered in 2003, manufacturers are taking hold of this methodology, ensuring new hires can successfully and...
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This content is only available to Premium and higher subscribers.  See our Subscribe page for information on subscriptions. It contains all software and computer related warning letter excerpts included on this site. Some of the newest warning letters on the site may not be included since we only update this comprehensive document periodically. This compilation is provided...
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Obviously, unit tests have their greatest value at the time of the development of the unit itself. Well-designed unit tests provide evidence that the unit performs its intended function, that the software design executes as intended, and allows the developer (or tester) to test the unit with inputs and states that may be difficult to...
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The document at the link provided is a short checklist for helping ensure or assess requirements quality. It is an educational aid to be used only by knowledgeable individuals and should not be used blindly or considered comprehensive. This was prepared by Brian Pate with input from Alan Kusinitz. RequirementQualityChecklist  
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If sample sizes need to be determined there are many statistical methods and assumptions related to this so decisions should be carefully considered. Two of the most commonly used sample tables are ISO 2859 for attibutes and ISO 3951 for variables.
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This content is only available to Premium and higher subscribers.  See our Subscribe page for information on subscriptions. Mary Decareau of SoftwareCPR prepared a tiered checklist for EN 62366 Medical devices – Application of usability engineering to medical devices for our internal use and we are making it available to paid subscribers at the link provided and...
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This content is only available to Premium and higher subscribers.  See our Subscribe page for information on subscriptions. The SFDA prepared a draft document entitled “Explanations on the Basic Requirements of Application for Registration of Medical Device Software” on April 28, 2012, which is linked below. This was initially translated to English by JIRA (Japan Industries Association...
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This content is only available to Premium and higher subscribers.  See our Subscribe page for information on subscriptions. The attached pdf file contains all software and computer related warning letter excerpts included on this site. Some of the newest warning letters on the site may not be included since we only update this comprehensive document periodically. This...
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This content is only available to our Standards Navigators subscribers.  See our Subscribe page for information on subscriptions. Read the Swedish formal objection to the harmonization of ISO 13485. Sweden Formal Objection ISO13485 Medical Devices
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This content is only available to Standards Navigators subscribers.  See our Subscribe page for information on subscriptions. The Industry response to the Swedish objection to ISO 13485 can be found at the following link:   Industryresponseto13485objection I had previously posted regarding the Swedish objection at this link:  Swedish objection to ISO13485 Harmonization
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This content is only available to Standards Navigators subscribers.  See our Subscribe page for information on subscriptions. The link provides the formal objection to the harmonization of ISO 14971 from the European Commission.   EN Deharmonization of Cen-Standards 2010-11
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This content is only available to Standards Navigators subscribers.  See our Subscribe page for information on subscriptions. The link provides the response from ISO TC 210 to the EC objections to ISO 14971.  ISO TC210 Comments on deharmonization of EN14971
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SoftwareCPR Training Courses:

IEC 62304 and other emerging standards for Medical Device and HealthIT Software

Our flagship course for preparing regulatory, quality, engineering, operations, and others for the activities and documentation expected for IEC 62304 conformance and for FDA expectations. The goal is to educate on the intent and purpose so that the participants are able to make informed decisions in the future.  Focus is not simply what the standard says, but what is meant and discuss examples and approaches one might implement to comply.  Special deep discount pricing available to FDA attendees and other regulators.

3-days onsite with group exercises, quizzes, examples, Q&A.

Instructor: Brian Pate

Next public offering:  TBD

Email training@softwarecpr.com to request a special pre-registration discount.  Limited number of pre-registration coupons.

Registration Link:

TBD

 


 

Being Agile & Yet Compliant (Public or Private)

Our SoftwareCPR unique approach to incorporating agile and lean engineering to your medical device software process training course is now open for scheduling!

  • Agile principles that align well with medical
  • Backlog management
  • Agile risk management
  • Incremental and iterative software development lifecycle management
  •  Frequent release management
  • And more!

2-days onsite (4 days virtual) with group exercises, quizzes, examples, Q&A.

Instructors: Mike Russell, Ron Baerg

Next public offering: March 7 & 28, 2024

Virtual via Zoom

Registration Link:

Register Now

 


 

Medical Device Cybersecurity (Public or Private)

This course takes a deep dive into the US FDA expectations for cybersecurity activities in the product development process with central focus on the cybersecurity risk analysis process. Overall approach will be tied to relevant standards and FDA guidance documentation. The course will follow the ISO 14971:2019 framework for overall structure but utilize IEC 62304, IEC 81001-5-1, and AAMI TIR57 for specific details regarding cybersecurity planning, risk characterization, threat modeling, and control strategies.

2-days onsite with group exercises, quizzes, examples, Q&A.

Instructor: Dr Peter Rech, 2nd instructor (optional)

Next public offering:  TBD

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