Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Advanced Human Factors Engineering

is being presented by Maria Shepherd, Principal, with Data Decision Group and airs on Tuesday, January 25th, 2011. For more details or to register for this event, please visit our site at www.fxconferences.com

FDA's expectations are changing. Medical manufacturers are required by FDA and other global regulatory bodies to prove that human factors considerations have been met during product design and development. FDA takes these human factors requirements seriously, requiring that the manufacturer perform a systematic assessment of the intended user(s), how the device will be used, the environment in which it will be used, and existing use-related hazards.

This audio conference presentation reviews guidance documents issued by FDA regarding its human factors initiative. The speaker also presents several examples of a human factors engineering project, including templates that have been designed to assist in the process of usability testing in the medical industry.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Global Clinical Trials & ISO 14155 Compliance – Are You Ready to Update?

is being presented by Dr. Joy Frestedt, President & CEO, of Frestedt Incorporated and airs on Wednesday, January 19th, 2011. For more details or to register, please visit our site at www.fxconferences.com

Are your quality systems for clinical trials compliant with ISO 14155? ISO 14155: The Clinical Investigation of Medical Devices for Human Subjects is an international standard designed to guide companies as they fulfill the regulatory requirements for international clinical trials. With over 30 pages of detailed required elements in Part 1: General Requirements and Part 2: The Clinical Investigation Plan, ensuring your systems are compliant with every component of the standard is complicated work.

This presentation reviews the required elements to consider when conducting trials outside the United States, breaking the standard down into manageable parts and discussing how to integrate ISO 14155 into your current clinical research quality system. The speaker provides a standard checklist to ensure your system/trials address all the required elements.

This presentation is especially timely, since the ISO 14155 standard has been undergoing revision to become more consistent with the Global Harmonization Task Force (GHTF) and the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) Good Clinical Practice (GCP) documents, to ensure data generated anywhere in the world meets minimum standards.

This presentation is designed to make sure each member of the clinical team fully understands what is included in ISO 14155 so they can be confident as they ensure all the parts of this essential standard are addressed in their day- to-day clinical trial activities. Participants will hear about the device-specific requirements of ISO 14155 along with the clinical trial guidelines of the GHTF and the ICH GCPs, and useful tips on how to prepare for changes to in-house quality systems to ensure compliance with the new standards when they are released.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Medical Device Vigilance - Reporting Requirements in the EU

is being presented by Helen Colquhoun, CEO, of Pleiad Inc. and airs on Wednesday, January 12th, 2011. For more details or to register for this event, please visit our site at www.fxconferences.com

The revised MEDDEV 2.12-1 Rev 6 guidance about medical device vigilance came into effect in December of 2009. While not legally binding, this guidance does reflect EU competent authority expectations and companies are advised to build their vigilance system around the guidance.

In this audio conference our speaker reviews the guidance, explains key definitions and responsibilities, provides a vigilance process map, and discusses the criteria for reporting using several examples. For instance, a patient with worsening osteoporosis presents with severe ankle pain twelve months after surgical fixation of the ankle with bone graft and hardware (screws and plate). There is movement at the joint, demonstrating lack of fusion. Is this a reportable event?

Finally the presentation looks at event trending and how to use the information that is delivered via the vigilance system.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Enhanced Monitoring Tools and Strategies to Optimize Productivity and Compliance

is being presented by Kimberly Kiner, President, of 2K Clinical Consulting and airs on Tuesday, January 11th, 2011. For more details or to register, please visit our site at www.fxconferences.com

Clinical monitoring represents a crucial aspect of clinical research trials in ensuring subject safety, data integrity, and proper trial conduct in Good Clinical Practice (GCP) compliance and other regulations. Typically, a clinical research associate (CRA) who has mastered basic monitoring can be effective in ensuring site compliance. However, as the complexity of clinical research trials increases and timelines shorten, there is a need for more efficient monitoring practices. This presentation discusses the issues surrounding monitoring performance in US-based pre-market studies and provides enhanced techniques to optimize productivity without compromising subject safety and quality of data.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Intended Use & Indications for Use – Does Anyone Know What They Mean? Does FDA?

is being presented by Robert J. Klepinski, Regulatory Attorney, Of Counsel, with Fredrikson & Byron and airs on Thursday, January 13th, 2011. For more details or to register, please visit our site at www.fxconferences.com

Intended use. Indications for use. For years FDA has developed working definitions of these two terms, which vary from the definitions included in the regulations. Now FDA is questioning whether new definitions are needed. Previous industry use of the terms was based upon FDA's informal guidance, but if FDA doesn't know what they mean, does anyone?

In this audio conference, regulatory attorney Bob Klepinski discusses both the practical and the theoretical issues surrounding these two important terms and their use. The presentation looks at the statutory and regulatory definitions, and FDA's attempts to define them in guidance for industry. It also looks at what the future might hold, and how companies should proceed in the interim.