Overview

Regulatory agencies increasingly require a unique device identifier (UDI) to ensure a medical device has future traceability to a manufacturer. The objective is to unambiguously identify all medical devices in the healthcare supply chain through distribution and use. A device identifier and product identifiers are combined to create the UDI incorporated into barcode labels on all Medtronic products.

Understanding UDI and GS1

Medtronic manages all global regulation for standard product information by following GS1 standards. GS1 standard data fields align to meet the regulatory requirements for device identifier and production identifiers, which become the UDI for each product.

Unique device identifier in GS1 terms

The device identifier (DI) and production identifiers (PI) of the UDI are represented in the GS1-128 barcode symbology below.

UDI
Unique device identifier		 GS1 standards
Product identification
DI
Device identifier		 GTIN
(01) Global Trade Item Number
PI
Production identifiers		 AI
Application identifiers typical for UDI
  • (17) Use by date or
    (11) Production date
  • (10) Lot number or
    Serial number

Other AIs may appear in a barcode, but are not
included in UDI.
DI + PI = UDI GTIN + specific AIs = UDI


A Medtronic barcode may also have additional data fields not included in UDI. For example, Medtronic is expanding its use of the GS1 AI (20) internal product variant to reduce the number of times we change a product Global Trade Item Number during a product lifecycle. The AI (20) data field, when present on a barcode, is for Medtronic internal controls. The AI (20) variant is not part of UDI.


The human readable interpretation (HRI) below the barcode is used for the human eye to determine the information encoded in the barcode without having to scan the label.  The inclusion of an application identifier (AI) in the barcode symbology is used to interpret what the HRI data represents. 

Frequently asked questions

The UDI is composed of two parts: DI + PI = UDI.

Device identifier (DI) + production identifiers (PI) = unique device identifier (UDI).

Device identifier (DI): A mandatory, fixed portion of a UDI that identifies a manufacturer’s specific product and package configuration.

For Medtronic, this is the GS1 Global Trade Item Number (GTIN); and
production identifier (PI): a conditional, variable portion of a UDI that identifies one or more of the following when included on the package label of the device:
 

  • The lot or batch within which a device was manufactured
  • The serial number of a specific device
  • The expiration date of a specific device
  • The date a specific device was manufactured

Check the label. All Medtronic devices in the global supply chain have the UDI encoded in a GS1-128 barcode format on the product package.

Review order and shipping documentation. Medtronic invoices (both electronic and paper) and delivery notes (shipping documents) include the UDI in human readable format (GTIN = device identifier and lot or serial number = production identifier).

Contact your purchasing organization or Medtronic customer service. Medtronic customer service can provide the UDI information, e.g., device identifier (GTIN) and production identifiers (lot or serial number) for a particular product ordered. In addition, most electronic data interchange (EDI) transactions will also have the UDI included in the messaging format.

Barcode product information

Learn about the barcode with AI (20) variant data field.

Get details

Barcode testing

Test our updated product barcode for UDI data.

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Find out more about barcode labels and scans.