ISO 7198:2016 specifies requirements for the evaluation of vascular prostheses and requirements with respect to nomenclature, design attributes and information supplied by the manufacturer, based upon current medical knowledge. Guidance for the development of in vitro test methods is included in an informative annex to ISO 7198:2016. It can be considered as a supplement to ISO 14630:2012, which specifies general requirements for the performance of non-active surgical implants. NOTE Due to the variations in the design of implants covered by ISO 7198:2016 and, in some cases, due to the relatively recent development of some of these implants (e.g. bioabsorbable vascular prostheses, cell based tissue engineered vascular prostheses), acceptable standardized in vitro tests and clinical results are not always available. As further scientific and clinical data become available, appropriate revision of ISO 7198:2016 will be necessary. It is applicable to sterile tubular vascular grafts implanted by direct visualization surgical techniques as opposed to fluoroscopic or other non-direct imaging (e.g. computerized tomography or magnetic resonance imaging), intended to replace, bypass, or form shunts between segments of the vascular system in humans and vascular patches intended for repair and reconstruction of the vascular system.Vascular prostheses that are made of synthetic textile materials and synthetic non-textile materials are within the scope of ISO 7198:2016.