The Devices Project Group (PG) has established and published organizing principles for content in the physical object hierarchy. The device content in the International edition of SNOMED CT should contain broad and non-contextual characteristics. Concepts containing detailed data characteristics such as size and dimension are not in scope for the International edition. Concepts containing the size of a device may be handled in other resources such as an UDI repository or National Extension. The project organizing principles can be viewed on Confluence: https://confluence.ihtsdotools.org/display/IAP/Reference+Documentation+-+Devices .

For the January 2021 International edition of SNOMED CT, the physical object that contains a size or dimension will be inactivated as ambiguous. For accuracy, the reason for inactivation may be updated to “Non-conformance to editorial policy” in a subsequent release. Here are some examples:

• 402091003 |Hypodermic insulin needles for pre-filled / reusable pen injectors snap on 29gauge/10mm (physical object)|,
• 102345002 |.22 inch caliber bullet, device (physical object)|),
• 395340000 |Nelaton 16Ch polyurethane pre-hydrated female length urethral catheter (physical object)|).

If any concepts are missed for the January 2021 release, they will be inactivated in subsequent releases.

If you have concerns, questions or comments, please provide them on this forum. Thank you!