![]() ![]() it is found in volcanic areas or areas were volcanism has occurred sometime in Earth’s history. 'Its a very different feel to work with and you have to practice before you start using it in surgery. The fine-grain is due to quick cooling magma. 'If you look under the microscope at a steel scalpel edge it looks almost like a saw, it has teeth, whereas obsidian is smooth even microscopically. Obsidian under the microscope showing a complex fine-grained texture. Another benefit to using obsidian scalpels is the reduction of healing time for surgical incisions. Given these unique characteristics a German company has created surgical tools that allow doctors to use obsidian instruments on patients who might be allergic to steel. It is 3 times sharper than diamond and between 500-1000 times sharper than a razor or a surgeon’s steel blade resulting in easier incisions and fewer microscopic ragged tissue cuts. Surprisingly, the edge of a piece of obsidian is superior to that of a surgeon’s steel scalpel. Because of its sharp edges early man used it to make cutting tools or arrowheads. If you look at a surgical scalpel and a fresh obsidian flake under a microscope, the obsidian edge makes the surgical scalpel look like a dull ax, Dr. In order to determine if skin incisions made with obsidian were superior to those made with standard surgical steel, wound tensile strength, scar width, and histology were assessed in 40 adult male Sprague-Dawley. Obsidian has a conchoidal (shell-like pattern) fracture, which means that it breaks like glass and does not form any flat crystal facets. There are several anecdotal clinical articles claiming wound healing and scar superiority using obsidian (volcanic glass) scalpels. Obsidian is considered more of an igneous rock than a mineral, since glass does not have the crystal structure that defines minerals. Obsidian hand sample showing the glassy texture. The result is a silicon dioxide glass with magnesium and iron to give it the dark color. Obsidian is a volcanic glass created when magma is extruded from a volcano and quickly becomes quenched (cooled) so that crystals have almost no time to grow. Some surgeons use Obsidian for scalpel blades as the Obsidian blades have cutting edge much sharper than the stainless steel surgical scalpels which make it. Today’s featured rock/mineral piece is on: Obsidian. ![]()
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