Ever wondered what a sick liver feels like? Want to see the drill that surgeons use to attach a cochlear implant?

Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB) is giving the public a chance to feel and see some of the latest developments in medical research at an event on Monday 20 May 2013.

The hospital’s annual research open day provides the public with the chance to meet researchers and see how they are working to improve our knowledge of illness and injury.

One of the main features will be the chance to see and feel how disease and lifestyle choices can damage the liver. There will also be the opportunity to chat with scientists and nurses, take part in experiments showing some of the functions performed by your amazing liver, look under a microscope to compare sick and healthy tissue and take part in health games showing how many calories you drink.

It’s also an opportunity to find out more about our current clinical trials and how they work. This display will be provided by the world-renowned National Institute for Health Research Birmingham Liver Biomedical Research Unit (NIHR BRU), a collaboration between the hospital and the University of Birmingham. The BRU is carrying out world-leading research into a broad range of liver diseases.

Also on display will be an ultra-precise robotic drill which is used for implanting special hearing aids. The drill is designed to avoid damage to a delicate membrane within the ear while ensuring accurate placement of the life-changing devices.

A popular display which will be returning from last year’s event is a thermal imaging camera, a technology which the Trust’s clinical photography team has been developing with burns specialists as a diagnostic and measuring tool.

There will also be a large and diverse set of displays about cancer research and some of the technology involved in diagnosing and treating various forms of cancer.

A stand by the MidTech, the regional NHS innovation hub, will focus on the ways in which innovation is encouraged and nurtured within the NHS.

The event, QEHB Charity Research 2013 – You Can Make a Difference, is in its third year, and brings together the diverse research activity which helps to keep the hospital at the forefront of modern medicine.

More than 40 presentations, plus a series of talks looking at diabetes, rheumatology, cancer sciences and the world of medical physics, will show how patients and healthy members of the public can get involved with research which offers cutting edge treatments or expands our understanding of how the human body works.

The showcase takes place on Monday 20 May from 10:00 – 15:00 in the atrium and Education Centre of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham.

Refreshments will be available on the day and members of the public are encouraged to attend to find out how they can get involved in some of the country’s most exciting clinical research.