The U.S. FDA has posted information on the regulatory review period for several medical devices that incorporate patented inventions, such as the determination for the Simplify artificial cervical disc by Simplify Medical Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif. According to the FDA, the company seeks to tack nearly 1,100 days back on to the patent in question, an additional three years that may play a significant role in the company’s attempt to monetize the patent in question.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has released a draft version of patent examiner guidelines to address the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the inventive process, reflecting the standing U.S. position that AI cannot be an inventor.

Insulet Corp. received the greenlight from EU regulators to combine its Omnipod 5 automated insulin delivery (AID) system with Abbott Laboratories Freestyle Libre 2 Plus sensor to treat individuals aged two years and older with type 1 diabetes.

The U.S. FDA approved a new feature for detecting obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) on the Samsung Galaxy watch and smartphone, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. said on Feb. 10.

Masimo Corp. received a pinch of good news with the U.S. FDA’s clearance of its medical-grade fingertip pulse oximeter, Mightysat Medical, for over-the-counter (OTC) sale. The device uses the same technology as Masimo’s Set pulse oximetry used in hospitals and clinics.

The U.S. FDA has released a draft guidance for the use of data monitoring committees (DMCs) for clinical trials for devices and drugs, which would overwrite a similar guidance from 2006. This new draft guidance explicitly states that clinical studies more commonly employ DMCs than was the case 18 years ago and would seem to suggest that the agency will more routinely require the use of DMCs than was common practice in the past.

The U.S. FDA recently convened an advisory hearing to review the agency’s list of essential items for public health emergencies and led the hearing with its own list to which the advisory committee recommended numerous additions. How the FDA will respond remains to be seen, but the FDA’s list may grow significantly larger despite that industry representatives advised that existing supply chain redundancies would seem to suggest that some devices and associated items need not be subject to FDA supply chain oversight.

It’s been a good month for Illuminoss Medical Inc. In less than three weeks, the East Providence, R.I.-based company received U.S. FDA clearance of its new light-emitting diode (LED) console, achieved the 10,000th use of its bone-strengthening technology and presented promising results of research on use of its signature blue light for antimicrobial applications.

The International Medical Device Regulators Forum will meet in Washington in March 2024, a location which would seem to guarantee robust attendance. The meeting agenda includes an extensive amount of time for specialized regulatory pathways, an effort to promote the incentives for development of orphan and pediatric devices across the globe.

Boston Scientific Corp. notched another win with the U.S. FDA approval of its spinal cord stimulator (SCS), Wavewriter, for treatment of non-surgical back pain just a week after receiving the agency’s nod for its Farapulse pulsed field ablation system. The new indication comes four months after expansion of approved uses for Wavewriter to include painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy.