Biocompatibility testing and evaluations for medical devices

Biocompatibility testing and evaluations for medical devices is a vital component of patient safety, for it is the only effective means to ensuring that a medical device or any related material, when it happens to come into contact with the patient’s body has to not only perform its intended purpose and function; it should also not result in adverse reactions for the patient.

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When medical devices and/or materials come into contact with the patient’s body, they can cause problems or what may be termed adverse effects that can be either short-term or long-term adverse effects to the body. These effects, called acute to chronic, can result in mutagenic effects. It is to prevent the occurrence of such events that biocompatibility testing and evaluations for medical devices has to be carried out.

These evaluations for biocompatibility of medical devices are done to evaluate the interaction between a device and anything it comes into contact with within the patient’s body, such as cells, tissue or body fluids. Essentially, device biocompatibility is assessed to prevent biological risks from happening to the patient.

biocompatibilityTestingAndEvaluationsForMedicalDevices

ISO standard for biocompatibility testing and evaluations for medical devices

The International Standards Organization (ISO) has a specific standard for carrying out and ensuring biocompatibility testing and evaluations for medical devices. It is called ISO 10993-1: 2009, and makes biological evaluation part of a structured biological evaluation program that comes under a risk management process. All these are carried out in accordance with ISO 14971.

ISO 10993-1, Biological Evaluation of Medical Devices – Part 1 The basis for biocompatibility testing and evaluations for medical devices is the Risk Management Process. This is the most prevalent standard for assessing biocompatibility testing and making evaluations for medical devices. In requiring biocompatibility testing and evaluations for medical devices to be conducted in compliance with Principles of Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) and/or ISO/IEC 17025 and requiring the consideration of evaluation of local and systemic risk factors; the ISO 10993-1 is considered the basis for determining the subsequent, necessary biocompatibility testing and evaluations for medical devices.

What factors are tested?In line with the principles set out in ISO 10993-1: 2009 on biocompatibility testing and evaluations for medical devices, specific testing is prescribed based on two factors: a) the type and the intended use of a medical device or related material, and b) the kind, tenure and extent of contact the medical device makes with the body.

ISO 10993-1: 2009 on biocompatibility testing and evaluations for medical devices requires assessment to be made for the following among others: