Currently, HC recognizes both 2nd & 3rd edition of IEC 60601-1.  Based on what has been published, before this notice, after June 1, 2012 HC would only accept IEC 60601-1, 3rd ed. with the related Collateral standards (i.e. IEC 60601-1-XX that are aligned with IEC 60601-1, 3rd ed.) and related Particular standards (i.e. IEC 60601-2-XX that are aligned with IEC 60601-1, 3rd ed.).  This doesn’t work well as there are some Particular standards that aren’t aligned with 3rd ed., as of yet, or that have only recently (in the last year or so) been published by IEC and so many manufacturers haven’t had the time and/or resources to understand the requirements, do any redesign work, update to their labeling, update their Risk Management File to meet IEC 60601-1, 3rd. ed with any related Collateral & Particular standards, prepare the product for testing (including gathering all appropriate information [component info, etc.] to support the testing), test the product that will hopefully show that the manufacturer complies with all the requirements of the IEC 60601-1, 3rd ed. and the applicable Colateral and Particular standards.  That is unless the manufacturer has a lot of resources and are on top of the standards as they are being developed thru IEC and are starting on all this work prior to the applicable standards being published.

So, this HC guidance document sets out the following for the transition rules to be applied as of June 1, 2012:

1. If there is no Particular standard that is directly applicable to the device, it should conform to IEC 60601-1:2005 and its applicable Collateral standards.
2. If there is a Particular standard(s) that is directly applicable to the device and the version that aligns with IEC 60601-1:2005 was published by IEC before June 1, 2009, then the device should conform to IEC 60601-1:2005 and its applicable Collateral standards in addition to the(se) Particular standard(s).
   NOTE: If there are multiple Particular standards that apply to the device you will want to take the latest Particular standard publication date and if that is still before June 1, 2009 use this item 2.  If it is after June 1, 2009n then use item 3.
3. If there is a Particular standard(s) that is directly applicable to the device and the version that aligns with IEC 60601-1: 2005 was published by IEC after June 1, 2009, a three year transition period from the date of publication by IEC will apply.  During this transition, HC will accept conformity to both editions and related Collateral standards (and both will be listed on HC’s List of Recognized Standards).  
   Refer to NOTE in item 2. 

These transition rules will not be applied retroactively, meaning that if you have a HC Medical Device License for your product and you used IEC 60601-1, 2nd ed. unless there is a significant change to your product that impacts the characteristics of IEC 60601 series of standards you won’t have to retest to IEC 60601, 3rd ed and submit for an Amended License Application.  HC doesn’t require meeting the ‘state of the art’ in the same sense as is stated in the Essential Requirements of Annex I in the EU Medical Device Directive (MDD) or similarly in the Active Implantable Medical Device Directive (AIMDD) so the manufacturer only needs to submit to HC when they have a new medical device that requires a HC license or the manufacturer has to amend their HC medical device license because they have significant change(s) to the product(s) that impact characteristics addressed by the 60601 series of standards.

You still can submit for a HC Medical Device License to 2nd edition of IEC 60601-1 before June 1, 2012 but you will need to make sure it is shipped prior to June 1, 2012.

Standards are voluntary per the CMDR so if you have test data to IEC 60601-1, 2nd ed. and the applicable Particular & Collateral Standards you still could submit this test data to HC after the Transition Rules (items 1 – 3 above) prescribe IEC 60601-1:2005 & applicable standards.  The mfr would have to provide a summary of the differences in the testing compared to IEC 60601-1:2005 and provide a rationale to demonstrate that these differences do not affect the validity of the testing in demonstrating of the device’s safety and effectiveness.

The guidance document does state that HC reserves the right to require additional testing deemed necessary to demonstrate safety and effectiveness of any device. 

A very important note is stated near the end of the document which says:

” A Medical Device Licence issued by Health Canada provides authorization to import or sell a medical device in Canada and is evidence that the device meets the requirements of the Medical Devices Regulations.  Manufacturers are reminded that Provincial or Territorial electrical safety requirements are separate and distinct from the requirements of the Regulations.  For further information regarding these requirements, contact the applicable regulatory authorities.  A listing of some such authorities is available at: http://www.csa.ca/cm/ca/en/community/electrical/regulators.”

On October 1, 2011 the DRAFT “FAQ related to Implementation of EN 60601-1:2006 Clarification of open issues” was issued and this DRAFT document is being sent to NB-MED for commenting on the document.  NB-MED is also known as TEAM NB.  This organization is the European Association of Notified Bodies for Medical Devices which covers the MDD (93/42/EEC), AIMDD (90/385/EEC), and IVDD (98/79/EC).  This group publishes guidances that are agreed on by the Medical Device Directives (93/42/EEC, 90/385/EEC, and 98/79/EC) Notified Bodies. Once all the responses are agreed to it is anticipated that the document will be released as an NB-MED guidance document.

The History of this DRAFT document is restated below.  Note that any “click here” links are not live in the below text but are live in the actual DRAFT document.

History

During spring 2011, it was realized that the use of EN 60601-1 and its many family members in demonstrating compliance with the relevant and applicable requirements of the European medical device regulatory framework was not too trivial. While relevant guidance on the matter had been published at the CENELEC website as a Q&A document (click here), some Notified Bodies were giving advice that was felt to be not in line with that guidance. On other occasions, questions were raised that were not covered in the guidance.

So, it was concluded that the situation for electrical equipment in medical practice was not totally clear and that additional guidance would be useful. Further contact with the chair of the NB-MED confirmed this desirability, and a small group of experts was established. This group developed an enquiry asking for “practical issues in the implementation”, that was sent to many stakeholders in June 2011(see Annex 1). Also at the international level of IEC the request was distributed (62A/769/INF).

The response to the request was beyond expectation and the small team of experts, initially consisting of three, was expanded with Dr. Klaus Neuder of DKE (Frankfurt, Germany).

End of July 2011, the work on digesting the issues submitted until then started and it took until end of September 2011 until all material had been thoroughly discussed and answers formulated to the questions that were raised. In some cases, the questions were slightly amended to make them a little more general, and a few additional “connecting” questions were developed by the team.

It is believed that the answers, developed in close team cooperation, present a fair response to the issues brought forward and that they can be used as a reference for all stakeholders.

Now it is time for the NB-MED to scrutinize the proposed responses and see if they are also acceptable to all members of NB-MED. The NB-MED comments are kindly awaited by the end of October 2011, at the same e-mail address that was used for the initial submission of the issues: 60601Ed3.NBMED.issues@gmail.com, using the form supplied together with this document.

Happy reading!

The 60601-1 Issues Team:

Dr. Wolfgang Leetz, Dr. Peter Linders Dr. Klaus Neuder Mr. Martin Schneeberg