• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.29-37
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• 2022

MDR, a new European medical device regulation newly enacted in 2017, requires that medical device products that have received CE conformity certification through MDD be re-certified by May 2024 in line with the new CE MDR regulation. The new MDR requires more stringent medical device clinical evaluation and clinical investigation than the previous MDD required, and also require the submission of documented post-marketing surveillance data. Korean medical device makers also need to meet the new MDR requirements and obtain conformity certification, but the industry is still confused because they do not understand the new regulations thoroughly. In this study, medical device regulations in Korea, the United States, and Europe are compared, and the European MDR is further compared with the previous European Medical Device Directive MDD to help understand the requirements of the new European Medical Device Act.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.209-244
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• 2020

TMS and tDCS are non-invasive devices that treat the diseases of patients or individual users, and manage or improve their health by applying stimulation to a brain through magnetism and electricity. The effect and safety of these devices have proved to be valid in several diseases, but research in this area is still much going on. Despite increasing cases of their application, legislations directly regulating TMS and tDCS are hard to find. Legal regulation regarding TMS and tDCS in the United States, Germany and Japan reveals that while TMS has been approved as a medical device with a moderate risk, tDCS has not yet earned approval as a medical device. However, the recent FDA guidance, European MDR changes, recalls in the US, and relevant legal provisions of Germany and Japan, as well as recommendations from expert groups all show signs of tDCS growing closer to getting approved as a medical device. Of course, safety and efficacy of tDCS can still be regulated as a general product instead of as a medical device. Considering multiple potential impacts on a human brain, however, the need for independent regulation is urgent. South Korea also lacks legal provisions explicitly regulating TMS and tDCS, but they fall into the category of the grade 3 medical devices according to the notifications of the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. And safety and efficacy of TMS are to be evaluated in compliance with the US FDA guidance. But no specific guidelines exist for tDCS yet. Given that tDCS devices are used in some hospitals in reality, and also at home by individual buyers, such a regulatory gap must quickly be addressed. In a longer term, legal system needs to be in place capable of independently regulating non-invasive brain stimulating devices.