Medical Electrical Standards are constantly being changed and evolving and the amount of changes seems to be accelerating. All too often I hear clients complain that they didn’t know about a standard until way too late in the process and have had to redesign their product to meet regulatory requirements.

So how do you stay up-to-date on all these changes? Are you considering the implication of these standards when putting together your regulatory strategy? Do you know what standards are coming down the line and how they may impact your product design? Are these standards harmonized in different markets? Does your test lab always know what versions of standards you need to test too?

If you have a medical electrical device or a software as a medical device and your answer to any one or more of these questions is NO then this free 90 minute webinar is for you.

Take Aways from this Webinar:

• What medical electrical and related standards are being updated now and how they interact with each other.
• What is the schedule for the IEC 60601 Amendment Projects and what other standards (i.e. ISO 14971, IEC 62366-1, IEC 62304) will impact the project?
• Overview of the recently released Wireless Coexistence Standards for US.
• Why you may need to redesign your product to meet the EMC Standard IEC 60601-1-2:2014 (4th Ed.).
• How does testing under the CB Scheme impact your testing and regulatory strategies?
• Resources to keep track of standards from both a regulatory and standards development perspective

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

• Medical Device Executives
• QA/RA Professionals at all levels
• Compliance Engineers
• Quality Engineers
• Design Engineers
• Project Management Engineers
• Senior Staff involved in management reviews per ISO 13485 for the standards update section

If you want to learn more about the IEC 60601-1 certification process you can read an article on the greenlight.guru blog of a presentation I gave awhile back on this process.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER:

This webinar is being lead by me (Leo Eisner), “The 60601-1 Guy”, founder and principal consultant at Eisner Safety Consultants and moderated by Jon Speer of greenlight guru.

Leo is a licensed professional engineer in safety engineering, a certified Quality System lead auditor, an expert in product safety for medical electrical devices (IEC 60601 series of standards) and an expert in CE marking for the medical device EU Directives.

Eisner Safety Consultants has helped countless clients thru the Product Safety and Regulatory maze over the 20 year history of the company. Leo has 30 years experience in product safety. Leo ran the Compliance Engineering Group at Karl Storz and was a Senior Product Safety engineer at TÜV Product Service.

Speed your time to market by following the step-by-step instructions that I will discuss in this free, 90 minute webinar, so you can obtain your product certification to IEC 60601-1 series of standards quicker.

I will walk you through the steps to success for product testing by a certification agency (like UL, TÜV, BSI, Intertek, etc.) to the IEC 60601-1 series of standards on medical electrical equipment and systems.
Learn from the expert the mistakes others have made that have slowed down their certification process (and how you can avoid them).
Take proactive steps so your product doesn’t need to get redesigned after testing starts.

Take Aways from this Webinar:

• The IEC 60601-1 standards series & if they apply to your product.
• What you need to know to classify your products to the IEC 60601-1 series.
• What is an isolation diagram and how does that help me with my design?
• Understanding the importance of the Risk Management File and Essential Performance requirements.
• Determine the applicable tests for your device.
• What are the marking and labeling requirements for the device?
• Know your critical components.
• What pre-tests to run and what’s not worth testing?
• What samples are needed for testing?
• Resources to help with this process and ways to reduce the paperwork off your backs.  Get your free sample of Our Annual Standards Trends Report. Learn more about our Annual Standards Trends Report service.

If you want to get a prelude to this webinar listen to the podcast that discusses some of the Take Aways of this presentation.

About the presenter:

This webinar is being lead by Leonard “The 60601-1 Guy” Eisner, founder and principal consultant at Eisner Safety Consultants.

Leo is a licensed professional engineer in safety engineering, a certified Quality System lead auditor, an expert in product safety for medical electrical devices (IEC 60601 series of standards) and an expert in CE marking for the medical device EU Directives.

Leo has helped countless clients thru the Product Safety and Regulatory maze over his career. He has 30 years experience in product safety. Leo ran the Compliance Engineering Group at Karl Storz Imaging and was a Senior Product Safety engineer at TÜV Product Service. Prior to that Leo worked in a cross section of groups at U.L. for 9 years.

About greenlight.guru

greenlight.guru is the only Quality Management Software built exclusively for the unique needs of medical device companies, allowing you to bring safer devices to market faster while reducing risk and ensuring compliance. Visit their home page to learn more.

About Eisner Safety Consultants

Eisner Safety Consultants provides affordable, on-time product approvals via safety & regulatory agencies to medical device companies. We provide assistance with U.S., Canadian, European, & other international regulations. Click here to learn more about our services we offer.

Eisner Safety Consultants has teamed up with greenlight.guru, a specialized electronic Quality Management System (eQMS) platform specifically designed for small to mid-size Medical Device companies. greenlight.guru will reduce your quality management system overhead, a web based system, which is easy and practical to use, will minimize your paper trail, and consequently your need for excessive consultant hours allowing you to focus on your product and getting to market. greenlight.guru and Eisner Safety Consultants are both well equipped with our specialized expertise and know how to get your device to market, and more importantly – STAY in market!

IEC 60601-1 is the gold standard for electrical medical devices around the world. IEC 60601 is a challenge for many companies that are developing electronic medical devices.  It’s wise to have a guide to help you understand and work through the process, and in this podcast I discuss with Jon Speer some guidance you can use.

You need to understand why this standard series is important when developing your electrical medical products for your regulatory submissions. You need to know what they are (join our webinar on the 15 Steps to Get IEC 60601-1 Approval on Dec 13, 2016 to get more details) and understanding how to incorporate them as part of your design and development process at the beginning rather at the end of the process.

Listen Now:

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/294258926″ params=”color=00cc11&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

In the Podcast Leo & Jon discuss:

● What makes the 60601 process different from the other regulatory compliance processes.

● Some of the details on the differences between creating a device for the ER vs. for home use and for use in other types of facilities.

● Tips on preparing for success when creating a timeline for getting through the 60601 process, as well as some of the steps involved.

● Differences between different types of safety labs and the criteria that’s vital to understand to help you make the right choice.

● What to do early in the process of product design and development to be sure you’re on the right track long before you get to the production phase.

● Why it’s vital to keep the 60601 standard in mind, not only when it comes to meeting the standards, but also when it comes to patient safety.

● The Annual Standards Trend Reports (click to get a sample report now & our new pricing) and how you can benefit your company and save money and time.

“Give yourself a buffer. There will be bumps in the road… guaranteed.”  “Some labs know medical very well, and there are a lot that don’t.” – Leo Eisner

A recommendation I tell my clients: When it comes to developing products to the IEC 60601 series of standards is that you need to know your product well enough to determine what standards apply early in the development process – from there you’ll know how much preparation and testing it will take.  If this is something you don’t have the expertise or the bandwidth for we can do it for you.  One tool I recommend for my clients is we can provide you with our Annual Standards Trend Reports (click for a sample report & our new pricing) so you are strategically positioned for the changes that are coming, the new standards in development and for the recently released standards you didn’t even know exist.  View a sample of our Annual Standards Trend Reports & our new pricing.  The Annual Standards Trend Reports can to help you navigate the standards that apply to you and save you a lot of money and time.

About The Global Medical Device Podcast:

The Global Medical Device Podcast powered by greenlight.guru is where today’s brightest minds in the medical device industry go to get their most useful and actionable insider knowledge, direct from some of the world’s leading medical device experts and companies.

Like this episode? Subscribe today on iTunes, Sticher or SoundCloud.

Compliance to standards has become a key part of regulatory requirements. Due to move towards Global Harmonization of regulations, it has become important not only for the developed markets of US, EU, etc. but also the emerging markets (e.g. China, Brazil, etc.)

Our new service helps you identify the required standards and editions for your intended markets.                                                                   

Our service helps medical electrical device manufacturers (our specific focus of our database) keep up to date on new standards, updates to existing standards, and draft standards under development. This assures you can plan ahead of any major changes.

We reduce your burden on this time consuming task, so you can focus on what you are good at – developing products.

We do this at very reasonable rates.  We are offering to early adopters an extra discount on the price and extra time (3 months) will be added to the first year subscription. 

See our demo page for the types of reports we generate for the service. Find out more about the service.

We decided to take a little extra time to capture the large amount of information involved.. We will be Live by Mid Oct 2015.

Sign-up now for a live release notification and you will receive a special limited time offer that no one else will receive after we go live!! If you would also like to receive our Eisner Safety Consultants Newsletter sign-up here. Also, early adopters get an extra discount on the price and will get an additional 3 months added to their first year subscription if you sign-up in time.

What does the Service Provide:

The service includes several databases:

1. The Standards database is the primary focus. It includes standards, technical reports, technical specifications and guides. It includes new documents, updates to existing documents, as well as drafts under development (e.g. New Work Proposals, Committee Drafts, etc.)
2. List of standards publishers and the associated country.
3. List of Medical Device Regulators and their websites (if available).
4. Guidance Documents related to the standards for key markets. [Coming Soon]

A periodic report** is provided as part of the service.

All paid subscribers will have the ability to:

• Run searches of subscribed databases
• Print out search results from displayed data
• Print out tables of results in tabular format
• Export data for generation of your own reports (based on terms of service)
• Multiple user log-in for your company (limited to 5 unique user log-ins)

Discount for Initial release: We are releasing the database in stages, the early adopters (Current stage – stage 1) will get a discount (20%) for the first annual subscription cycle and an additional 3 months added to their subscription if you sign-up in time.

Sign-up now to receive a live release notification and you will receive a special limited time offer that no one else will receive after we go live!! If you would also like to receive our Eisner Safety Consultants Newsletter sign-up here.

Stage 2 will add Guidance Documents for the US, Canada, and EU. Also, list of standards publishers and the associated country will be expanded to cover 50+ countries. Stage 2 will be released by early 2016.

Stage 3 will expand the standards database to include US, EU, and Canadian versions of the IEC standards & IEC/ISO joint documents. It will also expand the regulators information and their websites beyond the key markets. Stage 3 will be released early Spring 2016.

Stage 4 will expand the standards database to include the supporting (non-electrical) medical standards used for your regulatory submissions e.g. ISO 10993 series, ISO 15223-1, etc. Stage 4 will be released early Fall 2016.

View details on the Subscription Levels

Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have. I can be reached by e-mail or phone at Leo@EisnerSafety.com and 503-244-6151 (Office) and 503-709-8328 (Cell).

Does your Medical Device Regulator or your Quality System require that you maintain a list of applicable standards to meet these requirements for your product lines?  How much time does it take to put this list together and how much effort does it take to keep the list updated? If this is a struggle for your organization to keep up with all the different data sources we have the solution for you at a reasonable price. A Standards Reconnaissance Subscription Service to help medical electrical device manufacturers keep up to date on all the changes that occur for these documents so you are prepared for future changes well ahead of the norm and you are able to stay up to date on your list of standards. The focus of this service will be on the documents for medical electrical equipment & systems (MEE&S = IEC TC 62, SC 62A – 62D) and home use medical electrical equipment & systems (Home Use MEE&S = IEC Active Assisted Living System Committee (IEC AAL SyC) and any other Home Use medical electrical equipment documents from the IEC TC 62, SC 62A – 62D including IEC 60601-1-11 Home Use Environment).

We plan to go live with the db by the end of Sept 2015.

Please reserve your spot by September 28, 2015 for this db subscription service.

Some of the features will include [For Paid Subscribers unless noted otherwise]:

• Notification e-mails when changes occur (i.e. Change in transition information from FDA for a standard) and new records are entered into the db.
• Receive either 2 or 4 reports per year (depending on Subscription level) summarizing:
  • key issues of that report cycle for MEE&S or home Use MEE&S,
  • estimated timeline for the publication of draft standards & other relevant documents of significance, and
  • full listing of all the documents in your part of the db with status information.
• Access to our searchable db (depending on Subscription level access to the either the MEE&S or Home Use MEE&S part of the db or the whole db) on our dedicated db website if you are a paid subscriber. [Limited access for free level of service with 10 – 15 standards (pre-defined)]
• Print out db search results the way you want them
• Export db search results for your use (limited by the terms & conditions of the db)

There are several parts of this db [For Paid Subscribers unless noted otherwise]:

• Standards db – including information on the standards, technical reports, technical specifications, and publicly available specifications that are active or current, in draft or development which would include voting level documents such as New Work Proposals, Committee Drafts, etc., and withdrawn documents (The previous version of the active standard).
• List of standards publishers & associated country (this will cover 50+ countries) [includes free service level],
• List of Medical Device Regulators with their websites, if available, for a selection of countries including all the of EU & EFTA countries.  We plan to expand this to include all countries in the world by the end of Stage 2 (below),
• Guidance Documents – Guidance documents that the regulatory bodies use for their national regulatory systems. Like for the US, Canada, & Europe. They will be added sometime after going live by end of stage 2 or 3 (see below).

Once the db goes live you can check out how the db works by accessing the free level of service to view a few examples of current standards (about 10 to 15). With the free service level you will be able to use most of the db features set other than obtaining reports, the update notification service, but you will not have access to List of Medical Device Regulators db of Guidance documents db.

Pricing starts at only:

• $4,500/year for Base Entry Subscription (2 reports per year and select either MEE&S or Home Use MEE&S part of db),
• $6,500/year for Mid-Level Subscription (4 reports per year and full access to db), or
• $9,000/year & up for Premium Subscription (2 personalized reports for your company’s needs based on conversations with Leo Eisner, 2 reports per year from the Premium Subscription level, and full access to db)
  All payments to be paid in US$ only.

We plan to go live with the db by the end of Sept 2015. Since we will be releasing the db in stages the early adopters will get a discount (20%) for the first annual subscription cycle and additionally we will throw in extra months to your subscription commensurate with how early you subscribe.  The earlier you subscribe the more free months will be added to your first yearly subscription for no additional charge.

Please reserve your spot by September 28, 2015 for this db subscription service and to guarantee a discounted first year price and to obtain extra months added for free. To reserve your spot for the Base entry or the Mid-Level Subscriptions please arrange a $750.00 (US$) deposit and for the Premium Subscriptions please arrange a $1,500.00 (US$) deposit. Contact us to arrange for deposit.

There will be a couple stages for the release of information for the db.  We plan on continual updates over time to provide a really valuable resource and continually make it better. The first stage will be complete prior to the official release of the db which will include all the updated information for the IEC based MEE&S & Home Use MEE&S documents including updates on the small number of joint IEC/ISO documents.  Stage 2 will be initiated just before the release of the db, which will include updates for the US, EU, and Canadian versions of the IEC & IEC/ISO MEE&S and Home Use MEE&S documents and IEC/ISO joint documents. We plan to have stage 2 completed around Jan 2016.  Stage 3 will include updated information adding in the supporting medical device (non-medical-electrical) documents you need for your regulatory submissions such as ISO 10993 series of standards, ISO 15223-1, etc.  This stage will initiate with the non-medical-electrical standards for IEC and ISO and in the future we will add other Standards Developers.  We expect to start on stage 3 around Jan 2016 and have not yet scheduled it’s completion.

Please contact Leo Eisner to find out more details about this db. He can be reached by e-mail or phone at Leo@EisnerSafety.com and 503-244-6151 (Office) and 503-709-8328 (Cell).

The old MDD Harmonized Standards Listing used to be located at the website address of http://bit.ly/MDD_Harmonized_Stds_Listing but as of 2 Feb 2015 the site has been archived.  The new site can be found by following the instructions on the archived site.  First click on the link in the bright yellow band on the top of the old site titled “Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs website“, then on the new page that opens click on the “Single Market and Standards” link, then on the left hand bar select the link titled “European Standards“, then on the next web page select the link on the left hand bar titled “Harmonised Standards“. Then search for the section titled “Healthcare engineering” and select the applicable medical device directive you are looking for:

• Medical devices (MDD)
• Active implantable medical devices (AIMDD)
• In vitro diagnostic medical devices (IVDD)

If you need help with your EU CE for the Mark Medical Device Directive, the Active Implantable Medical Device Directive or the IVD Directive, email Leo Eisner directly at Leo@EisnerSafety.com, or call Leo at +1-(503)-244-6151. He is the Principal Consultant of Eisner Safety Consultants (bit.ly/EisnerSafetyConsultants). 

The standard IEC 60601-2-52 is at the 1st edition + Amendment 1 as an FDIS.  The voting period is from 12 December 2014 thru 13 February 2015.  It should be published as an IS if the vote is positive shortly after (forecasted to be published on 27 March 2015).

A1 changes include:

• Added definition of sub-clause 201.3.219 of an Adult and appropriate places through out the standard.  Note the definition of an adults in this standard is at least 146 cm (57.48 inches  = 4 ft & 9.48 inches) in length, at least a mass of 40 kg (88.18 lbs), and a body mass index of at least 17 (this is on the upper end of the under weight category but goes up to the high end of obese > 40 bmi).
• Added a requirement that hazards related to Patients taller than 185 cm should be considered in the Risk Management. (Sub-clause 201.4.2)
• Updated the Entrapment test tool of figure 201.103a) & b).
• Added a new symbol required to mark on a medical bed to identify what the requirements for the “adult” using the medical bed are.  (Sub-clause 201.7.2.2.107) The symbol is to be placed on the medical bed in a prominent location and is to identify what an adult is, as defined in the standard in sub-clause 201.3.219.

• Added a requirement for the ifu to include a description of the intended Patient group(s). (Sub-clause 201.7.9.2.1e))
• Added a requirement that if the medical bed is limited to a specific group of patients to id that in the ifu. (Sub-clause 201.7.9.2.2e))
• Added a waning needs to be added to the ifu that incompatible side rails and mattresses can cause an entrapment hazard. (Sub-clause 201.7.9.2.2f))
• Updated figures 201.107 & 201.108 for medical beds with single or split/segmented side rails.
• Added a note related to sub-clause 201.9.8.3.2 on “static forces due to loading from persons” that support assemblies used in this test may be allowed to use a lower safety factor.
• Updated the Particular guidance and rationale section to incorporate “Adult” into this section of the standard for the Scope & Adult Definition.  (Annex AA, Section AA.2, Sub-clause 201.1.1 & definition 201.3.201)
• Added to Annex AA, Section AA.2 Guidance & Rationale for Sub-clause 201.4.2 a list of possible hazards of medical beds to consider.
• Delete a paragraph in Annex AA, Section AA.2, Sub-clause 201.9.101 – Protection against inadvertent falls.

This post discusses that EN60601-1:2006+Amendment 1 (A1):2013 has finally been Harmonized under the MDD.

This is really big news that many of us in the medical industry have been waiting to hear occur for quite awhile.

What’s The Big News About?

On 16 May 2014 the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) published an updated Harmonized Standards List for the MDD 93/42/EEC (2014/C 149/02), therefore making it a Harmonized Standard under the MDD.  Of the five changes to the list for “first publication” documents the one of concern for this post is EN 60601-1:2006 + A1:2013 (it is also known as Edition 3.1 which means 3rd edition of EN 60601-1 [published 2006] + Amendment 1 (or A1) [published 2013]).  The cessation of presumption of conformity for the EN 60601-1:2006 (3rd edition without A1) has been set to be 31 December 2017 ( a 3 year transition period) but there is more to the picture so please read on otherwise you will run into a problem before that date.

Remember That Harmonized Standards Are Voluntary:

NOTE: A reminder that EU Harmonized Standards are not mandatory to meet the Essential Requirements of the MDD but do help make it easier to meet the Directive than going it without the use of Harmonized Standards typically but it is your choice how to approach this issue. I do recommend, to my clients, that they use Harmonized Standards, when they can, since they are common standards that Notified Bodies and Test Houses understand and are familiar with.  So, it is easier to use a Harmonized Standard like EN 60601-1 than to prove, with a higher burden of proof, using a different standard(s) or internal specification(s), etc. that the Notified Bodies may not be as familiar with and then the manufacturer has a higher bar to prove to the Notified Body to prove they meet the Essential Requirements of the MDD.

What’s That Note All About?

In the recently released OJEU Harmonized Standards Listing for EN60601-1:2006+A1:2013 there is an extensive note that discusses the dates of cessation which reads verbatim:

“Addendum to Note 1 and Note 3 concerning dates of cessation of presumption of conformity when applying EN 60601-1:2006. The date of cessation of presumption of conformity when applying EN 60601-1:2006 is 31.12.2017. However the Annex ZZ to EN 60601-1:2006 ceases to specify the presumption of conformity with the Essential Requirements of Directive 93/42/EEC on 31.12.2015. As from 1.1.2016, only the clauses and sub-clauses of EN 60601-1:2006 corresponding to the clauses and sub-clauses referred to in Annex ZZ to EN 60601-1:2006/A1:2013 provide presumption of conformity with the Essential Requirements of Directive 93/42/EEC, to the extent indicated in the Annex ZZ to EN 60601-1:2006/A1:2013.”

What’s The Bottom Line?

So, what does the above text really mean?  You will need to consider the A1 Annex ZZ before the end of the transition period for the standard EN60601-1:2006 (3rd edition).  The EN60601-1:2006 transition period ends on 31 December 2017 but on 1 January 2016 you will need to comply, if using this voluntary standard, with the clauses of Annex ZZ of EN60601-1:2006+A1:2013 to be provided with the presumption of conformity that is needed to help meet the essential requirements of the EU Directive in relation to the EN60601-1 standard.  

To learn more about the Annex ZZ refer to the 2nd post in the below listing of past posts on the 60601-1 standard.

How Many Changes Are There in A1:2013 of EN 60601-1:2006 + A1:2013?

There are quite a few changes in A1 as there are 496 changes that were brought into the standard.  Why so many changes?  The original 3rd edition of the standard was released before it may have been totally ready but after about 10 years of development the standard committee decided they needed to get something out before the project would have been sent back to the drawing board (meaning it could have taken another couple years to release it) by IEC rules and also because at that point there was so much anticipation of the release by industry and the Test Houses the standard committee decided it was mature enough to get it out the door.  Of the 496 changes only about 70 of the changes are moderate to significant impact and the rest are editorial and minor corrections including typo corrections too.

For easy reference we have listed below some of our past posts on 60601-1 and 3rd edition + A1 which may be of interest to you.

1. Q&A on OSHA NRTL for AAMI ES 60601-1 3rd ed. + A1
2. Status Update on EN 60601-1:06 + A1:13 for EU MDD & Annexes ZA & ZZ
3. FDA Extends AAMI ES 60601-1 Transition Date to 31 Dec ’13 & Other Important Changes – Recognition Lists 031/032
4. IEC TR 62348:2012 Added in Assessment of impact of most significant changes of IEC 60601-1:2005 Amendment 1 (This Technical Report  talks about the significant and moderate changes to the standard of the 496 changes that were made to the standard.) 
5. When will IEC 60601-1:05+A1:12 turn into EN Standard?
6. IEC 60601-1:2012 Consolidated 3.1 Edition Just Published
7. Amendment 1 of IEC 60601-1:05 (3rd edition) has been published by IEC

If you need help with the IEC 60601 series of Standards, email Leo Eisner directly at Leo@EisnerSafety.com, or call Leo at +1-(503)-244-6151. He is the Principal Consultant of Eisner Safety Consultants (bit.ly/EisnerSafetyConsultants).

This blog discusses the following points:

• Definition of APPLIED PART
• Examples of APPLIED PARTS for specific medical devices
• Examples of different types of APPLIED PARTS (Type B, BF, CF or & each can be Defibrillator Proof for a total of 6 APPLIED PARTS classifications)
• 3 Notes in regard to the Definition of APPLIED PART