Merge Healthcare, Inc. Merge PACS versions 7.3, 7.3.1, 8.0 and 8.0.1 Recall

Check Your Product

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Reason for Recall

As stated by FDA

Potential for prior thumbnails to not display in reverse chronological order and images may not scroll in reverse chronological order when mammography stacked scrolling is enabled. Merge PACS provides image manipulation tools to enable users to view and compare images such as: linking, MPR, MIP, 3D image fusion/registration of CT, MR and PET; as well as CVR (Color Volume Rendering), measurements (linear distances, angles, areas, SUV, etc.), and annotations (for example, outline and label regions of interest, label spinal vertebrae).

Recommended Action

Per FDA guidance

Merge Healthcare notified customers on about 07/11/2019 via "Urgent Field Safety Notice" letter. The notice informed customers of two possible issues that may occur on Merge PACS and Merge OrthoPACS: 1. Prior thumbnails may not display in reverse chronological order. 2. Images may not scroll in reverse chronological order when mammography stacked scrolling is enabled. Use of an out of order image may result in the implementation of an incorrect or unnecessary treatment plan such as unnecessary medication, change in dosage of existing medication, or unnecessary medical procedures. It may also lead to progression of an existing patient condition, which may result in the progression of a disease state. Merge Healthcare will provide a software correction for the issue. A Merge Healthcare representative will contact each customer schedule the correction. In the interim, Merge Healthcare instructed customers that they can continue to use their Merge PACS/OrthoPACS devices by following the below instructions: 1. When pulling a series from thumbnail bar, confirm that the date of each series is visible in the viewport. The date will appear when overlays are configured to display the date. An administrator can assist in configuring Merge PACS/OrthoPACS if needed. 2. When utilizing the mammography scroll stacking tool, confirm that the date of each series is visible in the viewport. The date will appear when overlays are configured to display the date. An administrator can assist in configuring Merge PACS/OrthoPACS if needed. Customers were instructed to use the date, rather than the order the series are presented in, to determine chronological order. Additional instructions included to ensure all potential users of Merge PACS and Merge OrthoPACS have received this notice. Questions regarding the recall notice can be directed to Merge Customer Support at 877-741-5369.