The process of blood transfusion involves restoring lost blood to the body. Such procedures are lifesaving in many cases. The idea of blood transfusion was only made possible after William Harvey’s discovery of blood circulation in 1628.
Another medical break-through was the invention of the syringe by Christopher Wren in 1659, without which blood transfusions would not have been possible.
Initial transfusions were carried out as experiments on animals. In 1666 an English physician Richard Lower carried out the first successful blood transfusion between dogs. On June 15, 1667, the first blood transfusion to a human took place when Dr. Jean-Baptiste Denis transfused the blood of a lamb into a young boy, who survived. Some of his later patients didn’t fare well and died shortly after such transfusions.
The first human-to-human blood transfusion was carried out by Dr. James Blundell, a British obstetrician in 1818. His patient did not survive and transfusions were regarded as unsafe for a long time after this.
Blood transfusions became much safer with the discovery of distinct blood types in 1901. Soon it started being carried out in large numbers. Blood transfusions are considered a routine procedure all over the world today.
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