Japanese Guidance for Ventricular Assist Devices/Total Artificial Hearts

To facilitate research and development (R&D) and to expedite the review processes of medical devices, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) founded a joint committee to establish guidance for newly emerging technology. From 2005 to 2007, two working groups held discussions on ventricular assist devices and total artificial hearts, including out‐of‐hospital programs, based on previous guidance documents and standards. Based on this discussion, the METI published the R&D Guidelines for innovative artificial hearts in 2007, and in 2008 the MHLW published a Notification by Director regarding the evaluation criteria for emerging technology.