Whether All The Comparing Items Listed In The “Guidelines For Clinical Evaluation Of Medical Devices” Need To Be Done When Conducting Clinical Evaluation By The Method Of Using Comparable Device(s)?

The “Guidelines for the Clinical Evaluation of Medical Devices” mentions that “the items to be compared with each comparable medical device shall include but not be limited to the items listed in Appendix 2.” It’s also mentioned that “the reasons need to be state clearly if not applicable”. Appendix 2 lists items including basic principles, safety standards, national/industry standards, and intended use. The design characteristics of the products, key technologies, intended use, and extent of the risks need to be fully considered, and choose applicable items and explain its reasons when administrative counterpart conducting comparation. For example, an ultrasonic physiotherapy equipment should take the items including device structures, basic principles, main performance indicators, key components (mainly refers to probes or treatment heads), intended use, etc., into consideration. For the items such as manufacturing technique, use methods, etc., the impact of manufacturing technique on the safety and effectiveness of the product can be evaluated by comparison with other items. The use methods are basically same between similar products, so comparison of these two items is not required.