THIS MONTH
Device Directives approved
The revisions to the medical device Directives have been approved by the European Parliament. The positive vote came after the Council, the Commission and the Parliament reached agreement on a number of outstanding issues, including product labelling, classification, reprocessing and transparency. Guidance documents and secondary legislation will now have to be developed to ensure that the new provisions are adequately implemented. This will include evaluation of the impact on patient safety of the use of reprocessed “single use” products, which has caused so much disagreement over the three years it has taken to bring these revisions to the Parliament. The full text of the revising Directive, which will enter into force 20 days after publication in the Official Journal, can be found at www.europarl.europa.eu
Biomaterials accolade
Professor David F. Williams has been awarded the Society for Biomaterials’ 2007 Founders Award in recognition of long term, landmark contributions to the discipline of biomaterials. Professor Williams is the first non-American to be given this honour. Professor Williams holds a number of posts including Professor of Tissue Engineering at the University of Liverpool and Director of the UK Centre for Tissue Engineering located at the Universities of Liverpool and Manchester. We are delighted that he also finds time to write the Material Matters column for this magazine. In what could be described as a winning year for the Professor, he is also recipient of the Institute of Materials’ 2007 Chapman Medal for his work on biocompatibility and contribution to industry. www.biomaterials.org; www.iom3.org
Nano advances in the US
In 2011, demand for medical supplies and devices based at least partially on nanomaterials is projected to reach US$5.2 billion in the US, up from US$400 million in 2006. This amount will continue to expand as new nanotechnology based orthopaedic and cardiac implants and nanocoated medical and surgical instruments are introduced, says a study from Freedonia. In the short-term, the greatest impact of nanotechnology will be in therapies and diagnostics for cancer and central nervous system disorders. By 2016, nanoimplants will be widely employed in orthopaedic procedures and will begin to be used experimentally in tissue and neuro regeneration. The study features product and application forecasts and profiles of the main players.www.freedoniagroup.com
