|
It was reported that the customer had a fr catheter that had faulty balloons.Per the customer, the balloon looked damaged/not intact before it was used in the patient.There was not any troubleshooting.There was no patient injury.Device is available for return.Our product evaluation lab received one model 120804f fogarty catheter.The customer report of faulty balloons was confirmed.Balloon latex appeared deteriorated.Multiple cracks and tears were evident on balloon latex.Leakage was observed through the tears on the balloon.Both balloon windings were intact.Balloon latex was released from distal winding to check balloon edges at the tear.The edges did not appear to match at the tears.Latex deterioration is a condition usually caused by age, excessive exposure to light, atmosphere, or ozone.Appears on the balloon surface as a maze of fine cracks or crazing.The condition may occur in a small area or cover the entire balloon.No other visible damage was observed from catheter body.An engineering evaluation was performed to assess for any manufacturing related processes which could be correlated to the complaint.Based on the available information there is no evidence that supports or confirms the failure mode is associated to a manufacturing/design defect.A capa was initiated to address the balloon - latex deterioration failure for the embolectomy models with a vascupouch packaging.The capa has been completed and concluded that the root cause is exposure of latex to ozone, which can happen when the pouch packaged device is stored in rooms with high energy ionizing radiation sources that could generate ozone e.G.Fluoroscopy machines, x ray machines, uv lights, hvac sanitation equipment, etc.Corrective actions have been implemented.As a result, fca 90905 was voluntarily initiated instructing customers to return any product which has been stored in the same room as high energy ionizing radiation sources which emit ozone.A device history record review was completed and documented that device met all specifications upon distribution.Complaint histories for all reported events are reviewed against trending control limits on a monthly basis and any excursions above the control limits are assessed and documented as a part of the monthly review.
|