Building SaMD (Software as a Medical Device): Architecture, Compliance, and Challenges
Software as a Medical Device draws a hard regulatory line. Most engineering teams miss it until it costs them. Standalone clinical software performing a medical function (diagnostic decision support, treatment recommendation algorithms, patient monitoring tools) falls under FDA and MDR jurisdiction . Hardware involvement does not change that. That mandates a completely different development process. Validated architecture, documented risk management, & Cybersecurity controls are built in from day one. Treat SaMD development like standard software development, and you find the gap during FDA review, & the regulatory clock does not pause for architectural rework. What is Software as a Medical Device (SaMD)? SaMD meaning: medical device software executing specific medical purposes entirely independent of hardware. The IMDRF defined this category, and the FDA codified the framework directly within its Software as a Medical Device guidance . Whether deploying clinical...