Homogeneity assessment for pivotal medical device clinical studies.

A question that routinely arises in medical device clinical studies is the homogeneity across demographic subgroups, geographical regions, or investigational sites of the enrolled patients in terms of treatment effects or outcome variables. The main objective of this paper is to discuss statistical concepts and methods for the assessment of such homogeneity and to provide the practitioner a statistical framework and points to consider in conducting homogeneity assessment. Demographic subgroups, geographical regions, and investigational sites are discussed separately as each has its unique issues. Specific considerations are also given to randomized controlled trials, non-randomized comparative studies, and single-arm studies. We point out that judicious use of statistical methods, in conjunction with sound clinical judgment, is essential in handling the issue of homogeneity of treatment effect in medical device clinical studies.

Statistical innovations in diagnostic device evaluation.

Due to rapid technological development, innovations in diagnostic devices are proceeding at an extremely fast pace. Accordingly, the needs for adopting innovative statistical methods have emerged in the evaluation of diagnostic devices. Statisticians in the Center for Devices and Radiological Health at the Food and Drug Administration have provided leadership in implementing statistical innovations. The innovations discussed in this article include: the adoption of bootstrap and Jackknife methods, the implementation of appropriate multiple reader multiple case study design, the application of robustness analyses for missing data, and the development of study designs and data analyses for companion diagnostics.