A Critical Review of Australia’s Regulatory Oversight For New Generation Personalised Medical Devices

Book excerpt: Australia's medical device regulator Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) generally uses the term personalised medical device to describe medical devices made available to address specific individual requirements. 2019 Regulatory amendments including new definitions for personalised medical devices involved the subdivision of personalised medical devices into three categories of custom-made medical devices, patient-matched medical devices and adaptable medical devices, and the adaptation of the International Medical Device Regulatory Forum's (IMDRF’s) definitions for personalised medical devices. This book highlights inadequacies and oversights in the current regulatory regime, and explores possible solutions to address them. The study focuses on the regulatory control of personalised medical devices in Australia, but elements of the proposed regime are also compared with similar elements within the United States and South Korean medical device regulatory frameworks. The book also explores some technically complex medical and legal principles and issues that arise and interact with each other in the application of personalised medical devices. It concludes with specific observations and recommendations aimed at improving the current Australian regulatory framework for new-generation personalised medical devices. This study also examines the benefits and drawbacks of the IMDRF-led regulatory reforms in various international jurisdictions. The IMDRF is spearheading medical device international regulatory alignment; therefore, the scope and significance of the information discussed is important in international jurisdictions. This detailed study is a key reference work for academic researchers, medical device manufacturers and sponsors, and legal and regulatory experts.