Correlation Between Conditional Approval and Customized Bone Implant Devices

Abstract

This report aims to summarize key concerns regarding customized devices and conditional approval during the premarket evaluation of bone implants, and to explore the correlation between them. Based on the experience of approval of the first domestic custom-designed bone implant, we consider the process of gaining conditional approval for urgently-needed medical devices and medical devices for rare diseases, as well as the guidance available for clinical investigation. We also streamlined the scientifically administrative concept of this unique device, from the design and development of premarket technical evaluation to continuous post-market study. The present study found that those two aspects have certain connections, but they are not directly correlated to each other. In contrast to the USA, Canada, Australia and the EU, where regulations and guidelines have been established for the use of customized devices, in this regard, China is still it its infancy. Thus, there is considerable potential for China to develop and perfect the policies relating to customized devices and to develop relevant strategies to ensure their efficacy with the aid of conditional approval. Appropriate scientific conditional approval for mass production of individualized anatomy-matching bone implants could become a valuable approach for precision medicine.