Blood Typing
Blood type can be determined by using antibodies that bind to the A or B blood group in a sample of blood.
For example, if antibodies that bind the A blood group are added and agglutination occurs, the blood is either type A or type AB. To determine between type A or type AB, antibodies that bind the B group are added and if agglutination does not occur, the blood is type A.
In blood grouping the patient's serum is tested against RBCs of known blood groups and also the patient's RBCs are tested against known serum types. In this way the patient's blood group is confirmed from both RBCs and serum. A direct Coombs test is also done on the patient's blood sample in case there are any confounding antibodies.
Read more about this topic: Hemagglutination
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