Visualizing Item Codes for Overall health Gadgets

This thirty day period, we’re likely to seem at a visualization that utilizes community strategies. Visualizing a community is a subject of nodes and edges. If the community were Fb, the nodes would be individuals, and the edges would be the interactions among those people people today. As a substitute of persons, we are likely to glimpse at specific device functionalities as described by the product codes. And alternatively of relationships, we are going to seem at when device functionalities (i.e., product or service codes) are applied with each other in a promoted system as evidenced by a 510(k) submission.

In the chart beneath, we limit ourselves to the instance of cardiology units. We could likewise make a chart for any therapeutic system category. In addition to figuring out the product functionalities that are employed with each other, the chart measures two factors:

1. The recognition of every device’s functionality, which suggests how often a specified gadget functionality is mixed with many others. Down below this is the dimension of the dot that represents the node.

2. The frequency with which each individual device’s functionality is connected to another device’s features. Beneath this is the width of the line that connects to dots or nodes.

Chart

This is an interactive chart wherever you can hover your cursor above a certain node and read the identify of the node.

Methodology

We seemed at submissions about a much more than 20 calendar year time period of time, among 2000 and October 2021. We utilised program to examine each individual 510(k) summary on FDA’s web-site throughout that time. We pulled out of those summaries every single mention of a solution code. Then we produced a listing of just about every blend of two product codes (i.e., two solution codes made use of in the exact 510(k)). At last, we aggregated these situations for the 20 calendar year time period, counting the quantity of instances any two products codes were used jointly.

Interpretation

There are evidently some products codes – some functionalities – that are incredibly common to include with other functionalities. In the cardiology space, as illustrated in the chart, ideal in the centre of the network appear to be functionalities this sort of as oximeters, noninvasive blood force measuring functionalities, respiratory features screens, and physiological affected person displays. That helps make perception, as individuals functionalities evaluate main system alerts for cardiovascular treatment method and diagnosis. Lesser hubs that look additional on the periphery, but however however join with lots of of the unit functionalities, contain several catheter functionalities.

A chart these types of as this can be helpful both of those in what it demonstrates, and what it does not present. From a exploration standpoint, this reveals where a good deal of the historical emphasis has been in item improvement. In other text, this illustrates the emphasis on products progress with regard to combining gadget functionalities to realize some overall medical aim. Certainly, the chart could also give inspiration to product enhancement as it illustrates regions exactly where possibly a item crew could include operation to what it already has that would be clinically beneficial.

From a advertising viewpoint, this also could be applied to recognize white area, or regions where item development has not centered. Of course, there could be very good factors for that, in the sense that some combinations of product functionalities would merely make no feeling or generate no benefit. But it could also stimulate wondering about locations that only have not been explored as vigorously.