Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Medical Device Safety
A medical device is any product used to diagnose, cure, or treat a condition, or to prevent disease. They range from small and simple, like a blood glucose meter, to large and complicated, like a ventilator. You might use one at home or at work, or you may need one in a hospital.
To use medical devices safely:
- Know how your device works. Keep instructions close by
- Understand and properly respond to device alarms
- Have a back-up plan and supplies in the event of an emergency
- Keep emergency numbers available and update them as needed
- Educate your family and caregivers about your device
Food and Drug Administration
It sits within Safety Issues.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Medical Device Safety
1,485 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- Post Marketing Clinical Follow Up Study to Evaluate Efficacy and Safety of the Occlutech PDA Occluder in Patients With Patent Ductus Arteriosus DefectsOcclutech International AB
- Antibiotic Device for Osteomyelitis of the Extremities Pivotal Trial - Genex With Gentamicin.Biocomposites Ltd
- Clinical Study on the Medical Devices PROXERA PSOMED 20 and PROXERA PSOMED 40 for the Treatment of Plaque Psoriasis and Non-pustular Palmoplantar PsoriasisICIM International S.r.l.
- Clinical Study on the Medical Device PROXERA PSOMED 30 for the Treatment of Nail Psoriasis: Evaluation of Safety and EfficacyICIM International S.r.l.
- The Use of p48/64 MW HPC Flow Modulation Device in the Treatment of Wide-necked Intracranial Aneurysmsphenox Inc.
- A Study to Evaluate the Safety and Effectiveness of the Rapidlink Device When Used in Patients Undergoing an Open Surgical Procedure to Repair the AortaVascutek Ltd.
Research already completed
- Study to Evaluate the Safety and Effectiveness of MynxGrip Vascular Closure DeviceCordis US Corp.
- Randomized Study of an Analgesic Device Enabling Local Anesthetic Delivery and Neuromodulation After Shoulder/Foot SurgeryUniversity of California, San Diego
- Evaluation of Shoulder Access Safety Using the NewMan Compression DevicePirogov Russian National Research Medical University
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- Medical Device SafetyFood and Drug Administration
Related Issues
- Medical Device Safety Action Plan: Protecting Patients, Promoting Public HealthFood and Drug Administration
- Medical Device Safety CommunicationsFood and Drug Administration
- MedWatch: The FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting ProgramFood and Drug Administration
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Equipment and SuppliesNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Equipment Safety. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Medical Device Safety, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.