Eloïse Richards' AAHM 2026 presentation explored how disposable medical devices became associated with safety, efficiency and convenience, and what histories of resistance might offer for rethinking healthcare practices today.

Eloïse Richards presented ‘Behind the White Coat: Cleaning and Sterilizing Hospital Textiles in the Early 20th Century’ at the international conference ‘A History of Textile Cleanliness’, exploring the labour, infrastructure, and material practices that supported hospital care before the widespread turn to disposability.

Bruno Strasser presented ‘Talking Trash — The Rise of Throwaway Medical Culture in the Age of Plastics’ at the Leuven Centre for Health Humanities, exploring how single-use medical devices transformed hospital care in the second half of the twentieth century.

A new Deconstructing Devices video explores the material composition of a single IV catheter, revealing the multiple plastic components and hidden infrastructures embedded within everyday medical devices.

A reflection on the first meeting of the Infrastructures of Reuse cluster, exploring three historical sources that reveal how sterility, labour, and disposability became embedded in modern healthcare.