Introduction:

Manufacturers of devices, made available on the Union market, other than devices for performance study, shall report, to the relevant competent authorities, in accordance with Articles 87(5) and (7). A trend in context to IVDs is a graphical representation of any serious incident involving devices made available on the Union market, except expected erroneous results which are clearly documented and quantified in the product information and in the technical documentation and are subject to trend reporting pursuant to Article 83.

The trend reports referred to in Article 83(1) shall be automatically transmitted upon receipt via the electronic system referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article to the competent authorities of the Member States in which the incidents occurred.The post-market surveillance plan shall address the collection and utilization of available information on trend reporting.

Trend reporting:

The main purpose of the trend reporting is to monitor the number of incidents which are not classified as serious incidents for a time period. The incidents shall be registered in EUDAMED, in order to determine if the benefit-risk analysis of the device has changed overtime.

a. Manufacturers shall report by means of the electronic system referred to in Article 87 any statistically significant increase in the frequency or severity of incidents that are a) not serious incidents or b) incidents that could have a significant impact on the benefit-risk analysis referred to in Sections 1 and 5 of Annex I and which have led or may lead to unacceptable risks to the health or safety of patients, users or other persons or of any significant increase in expected erroneous results established in comparison to the stated performance of the device as referred to in points (a) and (b) of Section 9.1 of Annex I and specified in the technical documentation and product information.

The manufacturer shall specify how to manage the incidents referred to in the first subparagraph and the methodology used for determining any statistically significant increase in the frequency or severity of such events or change in performance, as well as the observation period, in the post-market surveillance plan referred to in Article 79.

b. The competent authorities may conduct their own assessments on the trend reports referred to in paragraph 1 and require the manufacturer to adopt appropriate measures in accordance with this Regulation in order to ensure the protection of public health and patient safety. Each competent authority shall inform the Commission, the other competent authorities and the notified body that issued the certificate, of the results of such assessment and of the adoption of such measures.

Analysis of serious incidents:

In case of serious incident the manufacturer shall, without delay, perform the necessary investigations in relation to the serious incident and the devices concerned. That shall include

• The methodology used for determining any statistically significant increase in the frequency or severity;
• How to manage the incidents;
• The observation period.