National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of EN ISO 10993‑10:2013. It is identical to ISO 10993‑10:2010. It supersedes BS EN ISO 10993‑10:2010 which is withdrawn.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee CH/194, Biological evaluation of medical devices.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its secretary.

This publication does not purport to include all the necessary provisions of a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 28 February 2014.

Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.

International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.

The main task of technical committees is to prepare International Standards. Draft International Standards adopted by the technical committees are circulated to the member bodies for voting. Publication as an International Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the member bodies casting a vote.

ISO 10993‑10 was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 194, Biological evaluation of medical devices.

This third edition cancels and replaces the second edition (ISO 10993‑10:2002), which has been technically revised.

ISO 10993 consists of the following parts, under the general title Biological evaluation of medical devices:

Part 1: Evaluation and testing within a risk management process
Part 2: Animal welfare requirements
Part 3: Tests for genotoxicity, carcinogenicity and reproductive toxicity
Part 4: Selection of tests for interactions with blood
Part 5: Tests for in vitro cytotoxicity
Part 6: Tests for local effects after implantation
Part 7: Ethylene oxide sterilization residuals
Part 9: Framework for identification and quantification of potential degradation products
Part 10: Tests for irritation and skin sensitization
Part 11: Tests for systemic toxicity
Part 12: Sample preparation and reference materials
Part 13: Identification and quantification of degradation products from polymeric medical devices
Part 14: Identification and quantification of degradation products from ceramics
Part 15: Identification and quantification of degradation products from metals and alloys
Part 16: Toxicokinetic study design for degradation products and leachables
Part 17: Establishment of allowable limits for leachable substances
Part 18: Chemical characterization of materials
Part 19: Physico-chemical, morphological and topographical characterization of materials [Technical Specification]
Part 20: Principles and methods for immunotoxicology testing of medical devices [Technical Specification]

Introduction

This part of ISO 10993 assesses possible contact hazards from chemicals released from medical devices, which may produce skin and mucosal irritation, eye irritation or skin sensitization.

Some materials that are included in medical devices have been tested, and their skin or mucosal irritation or sensitization potential has been documented. Other materials and their chemical components have not been tested and may induce adverse effects when in contact with human tissue. The manufacturer is thus obliged to evaluate each device for potential adverse effects prior to marketing.

Traditionally, small animal tests are performed prior to testing on humans to help predict human response. More recently, in vitro tests as well as human tests have been added as adjuncts or alternatives. Despite progress and considerable effort in this direction, a review of findings suggests that currently no satisfactory in vitro test has been devised to eliminate the requirement for in vivo testing. Where appropriate, the preliminary use of in vitro methods is encouraged for screening purposes prior to animal testing. In order to reduce the number of animals used, this part of ISO 10993 presents a step-wise approach, with review and analysis of test results at each stage. An animal test is usually required prior to human testing.

It is intended that these studies be conducted using Good Laboratory Practice and comply with regulations related to animal welfare. Statistical analysis of data is recommended and should be used whenever appropriate.

This part of ISO 10993 is intended for use by professionals, appropriately qualified by training and experience, who are able to interpret its requirements and judge the outcomes of the evaluation for each medical device, taking into consideration all the factors relevant to the device, its intended use and the current knowledge of the medical device provided by review of the scientific literature and previous clinical experience.

The tests included in this part of ISO 10993 are important tools for the development of safe products, provided that these are executed and interpreted by trained personnel.

This part of ISO 10993 is based on numerous standards and guidelines, including OECD Guidelines, U.S. Pharmacopoeia and the European Pharmacopoeia. It is intended to be the basic document for the selection and conduct of tests enabling evaluation of irritation and dermal sensitization responses relevant to safety of medical materials and devices.

This European Standard was approved by CEN on 9 July 2013.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN member.

This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and United Kingdom.

Foreword

The text of ISO 10993‑10:2010 has been prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 194 "Biological evaluation of medical devices” of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and has been taken over as EN ISO 10993‑10:2013 by Technical Committee CEN/TC 206 “Biological evaluation of medical devices” the secretariat of which is held by NEN.

This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by February 2014, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by February 2014.

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. CEN [and/or CENELEC] shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

This document supersedes EN ISO 10993‑10:2010.

This document has been prepared under a mandate given to CEN by the European Commission and the European Free Trade Association, and supports essential requirements of EU Directives.

For relationship with EU Directives, see informative Annex ZA and ZB, which are integral parts of this document.

According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

Endorsement notice

The text of ISO 10993‑10:2010 has been approved by CEN as EN ISO 10993‑10:2013 without any modification.

1 Scope

This part of ISO 10993 describes the procedure for the assessment of medical devices and their constituent materials with regard to their potential to produce irritation and skin sensitization.

This part of ISO 10993 includes:

pretest considerations for irritation, including in silico and in vitro methods for dermal exposure;
details of in vivo (irritation and sensitization) test procedures;
key factors for the interpretation of the results.

Instructions are given in Annex A for the preparation of materials specifically in relation to the above tests. In Annex B several special irritation tests are described for application of medical devices in areas other than skin.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 General principles — Step-wise approach

5 Pretest considerations

5.1 General

5.2 Types of material

5.3 Information on chemical composition

6 Irritation tests

6.1 In vitro irritation tests

6.2 In vivo irritation tests — Factors to be considered in design and selection of in vivo tests

6.3 Animal irritation test

6.4 Animal intracutaneous (intradermal) reactivity test

6.4.1 Introduction

For medical devices that are used as an implant, the use of an intracutaneous (intradermal) reactivity test is indicated. An assessment is made of the potential of the material under test to produce irritation following intradermal injection of extracts of the material.

6.5 Human skin irritation test

6.5.1 Introduction

At present, the prediction of human cutaneous irritation for the purpose of hazard identification relies primarily on the use of experimental animals (see Annex F). There are, however, problems in extrapolating from animals to humans. For chemicals to which human exposure is high (e.g. cosmetics and detergents), risk assessments are performed using human skin patch tests.

Human studies can serve several purposes:

direct identification of human hazard by testing chemicals in humans rather than in laboratory animals;
provision of risk assessment of certain chemicals to which human exposure is high;
facilitation of extrapolation to humans of data obtained previously from laboratory animal studies.

This part of ISO 10993 allows skin irritation data to be obtained directly from humans for purposes of hazard identification. Its aim is to determine whether a material presents a significant skin irritation hazard following acute exposure.

Clinical tests shall be performed in accordance with ISO 14155‑1 and ISO 14155‑2. Additional specific requirements for clinical tests are described in Annex C.

NOTE F.1 gives further information on irritation tests.

7 Skin sensitization tests

7.1 Choice of test methods

7.2 Murine Local Lymph Node Assay (LLNA)

7.3 Guinea pig assays for the detection of skin sensitization

7.4 Important factors affecting the outcome of the test

7.5 Guinea pig maximization test (GPMT)

7.6 Closed-patch test (Buehler test)

8 Key factors in interpretation of test results

Bibliography

BS EN ISO 10993-10:2013

Biological evaluation of medical devices - Tests for irritation and skin sensitization

Published:

28 Feb 2014

Withdrawn:

8 Feb 2023