Artificial intelligence could improve medical device manufacturing efficiency and reduce risk, but it’s still a work in progress. Artificial intelligence is driving the world and our habits. Some of the world’s most well-known companies are using AI: Apple in Siri, Tesla in self-driving cars, Amazon in Alexa and even Netflix. Now medical device companies including […]
Sparta Systems
Preventing medical device recalls: What’s expected for internal audits?

Nancy Singer for Sparta Systems
NxStage Medical adds Yale professor to scientific advisory board | Personnel Moves

Here’s the latest personnel changes from medical device, diagnostics and life science companies around the nation. For more recent hirings and firings, check out MassDevice’s compilation of the latest personnel moves.
Regulatory compliance vs. innovation: Does it have to be either-or?
Arne Carlson, the former governor of Minnesota, recently contributed an opinion column to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, voicing concerns about increased Food & Drug Administration regulation of the medical device industry stifling innovation. The column came as Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices & Radiological Health, prepared to visit the state — one of the country’s biggest medical device hubs — for a town hall meeting to discuss CDRH’s 2010 Strategic Imperatives and hear feedback from industry officials.
Have you hugged an auditor today?
In the life sciences industry, many companies have a heightened sensitivity to risk due to increased regulatory scrutiny and/or product quality issues. As a result, the concern around compliance has renewed many organizations’ focus on audit programs, which are being re-calibrated as a tool to identify the most vulnerable parts of the business.
Chance-takers are accident-makers
It pays to remember an old adage: "Better to be safe than sorry." Indeed, many medical device manufacturers are re-evaluating their quality systems as a result of the Food & Drug Administration’s recent review of pre-market notifications and a FY 2011 budget request for additional funds to address product safety. Device makers should heed this advice and take the necessary steps to pro-actively — rather than reactively — address compliance issues.