Published Article

PUBLISHED ARTICLE

Medical Device Industry Approaches for Addressing Sources of Failing Cytotoxicity Scores

Published In: Biomedical Instrumentation & Technology

May 26, 2021

To ensure patient safety, medical device manufacturers are required by the Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory bodies to perform biocompatibility evaluations on their devices per standards, such as the AAMI-approved ISO 10993-1:2018 (ANSI/AAMI/ISO 10993-1:2018). However, some of these biological tests (e.g., systemic toxicity studies) have long lead times and are costly, which may hinder the release of new medical devices. In recent years, an alternative method using a risk-based approach for evaluating the toxicity (or biocompatibility) profile of chemicals and materials used in medical devices has become more mainstream.

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Helin Räägel, PhD

Biocompatibility Expert

Dr. Räägel is a globally recognized expert in medical device biocompatibility. She has extensive expertise in writing biological evaluations and assessments for regulatory submissions. These documents focus on using a risk-based approach in defining the path to evaluating medical devices, with US FDA and EU regulatory bodies as the primary audience. She works closely with...

Matthew R Jorgensen, Ph.D.

Chemistry and Materials Scientist

Dr. Jorgensen is an expert in chemistry and materials science. He has over a decade of experience designing, synthesizing, and analyzing complex materials. To characterize materials, Dr. Jorgensen has extensively used a wide variety of techniques including GC/MS, LC/MS, FTIR, UV/VIS, SEM, NMR, and several types of advanced spectroscopic techniques. His Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Utah was based on the fabrication and analysis of titanium dioxide and silicon dioxide photonic crystals templated from the three-dimensional structure found in the exoskeleton of exotic weevils. During his time at the University of Utah, he received the Henry Eyring Research Fellowship, the DOW Chemical First Year Scholarship, and additional grants to travel and present his research at national and international conferences. His research has resulted in over 30 peer-reviewed publications.