The IBMS Congress 2023 event, to be held at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham next month, has received comprehensive coverage over recent issues of Pathology in Practice. At Congress, a small part of the circulation and exhibition space is devoted regularly to a poster display prepared by members of the IBMS History Committee. This year’s History Committee poster exhibit traces the history of blood and its testing.
In six posters, the display will cover the saving and healing power of blood from antiquity to the present day, and also examine the role of bloodletting, which is as old as medicine itself. The exhibit also covers the various historical uses of blood as a reagent, and covers its use in blood culture in microbiology. Finally, a poster on blood testing in haematology, coagulation and blood transfusion, and one on blood tests in clinical chemistry, charting an early curiosity value to a vital frontline aid.
Viewing these posters is highly recommended to gain an insight into the history of the diagnostic use of blood and its testing.