Materials vigilance and traceability

Patient safety requires speedy detection of any medical device malfunction; this is known as “materials vigilance”. It entails the need to be able to trace back the life-long pathway of a device; this is “traceability”. European regulations enact free circulation of medical devices throughout the European Union, with each member state being responsible for safety within its own territory. Medical devices are divided into 3 categories of increasing risk. CE marking mandatory for medical devices distributed within the EU, and count as market authorizations. They are delivered with 5-year validity by what is known as a “notified body”. Health authorities are responsible for monitoring the market and any incidents. New regulations are presently being drawn up to improve efficiency and transparency. Materials vigilance is founded on mandatory declaration of medical device incidents. At local level, it comprises local reporters responsible for informing the National Health Products Safety Agency (Agence nationale de sécurité du médicament et des produits de santé [ANSM]) of any incidents and taking all necessary precautions. At national level, the ANSM assesses the safety, efficacy and quality of healthcare products; it centralizes and assesses materials vigilance reports and takes the requisite decisions. Materials vigilance is further organized at the European and international levels, to harmonize legislation regarding medical devices. Traceability is intended to rapidly identify medical device bearers in case of product recall. Each center is to organize the traceability of its devices; manufacturers’ obligation of traceability ceases with the healthcare establishment or user. CE marking involves strict labeling rules to ensure safety of use. A change in the organization of traceability is presently underway, in the form of international Unique Device Identifiers, with harmonized label data, barcodes and standardized terminology. A European and later international database will be set up. The objective is to make Unique Device Identifiers mandatory within the EU by 2017.