Almost 83,000 people have died around the world, including 170 in Australia in the past decade, due to potentially dangerous medical devices, an international investigation into the global device industry has found.

In a world-first investigation, journalists from 36 countries have combined safety data, including more than 5 million “adverse event” reports, to create a global picture of the harm caused by medical devices.

The data has revealed 1.7 million people have been injured as a result over the past decade, including more than 8,500 in Australia.

The ABC worked in partnership with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) — the team behind the Pulitzer-Prize winning Panama Papers — for the global investigation.

It has revealed for the first time how lax regulations and vested interests have allowed dangerous and malfunctioning devices onto the market, putting patients’ lives at risk.

Implants can improve lives, even save them. And device makers say the good their products do vastly outweighs the harm.

For The Implant Files investigation more than 250 journalists used data extrapolated from databases across the world to cross-reference public records of approvals, malfunctions, injuries, deaths, recalls, financial documents, court filings and even government tenders and political donations.