![]() ![]() Today’s featured rock/mineral piece is on: Obsidian. half of the 20th cen- tury did Western medicine develop laser technology comparable to the obsidian scalpel used by ancient American Indian surgeons. 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. This is because on cellular level, obsidian knife cuts between cells. The result is a silicon dioxide glass with magnesium and iron to give it the dark color. an unusual research project that weds modern medicine with archeology and its study. Obsidian hand sample showing the glassy texture. Known as Obsidian Cliff, the Yellowstone mountain is one of the country’s highest quality deposits of the sharpest natural substance on Earth, according to Douglas H. Do you hold a scalpel like a pencil Scalpels are used to create incisions in tissues and can be held in a pencil, palm or fingertip grip. Obsidian is considered more of an igneous rock than a mineral, since glass does not have the crystal structure that defines minerals. A surgical scalpel is many times sharper than a straight razor and almost as sharp as many of the sharpest DE blades. Obsidian has a conchoidal (shell-like pattern) fracture, which means that it breaks like glass and does not form any flat crystal facets. Because of its sharp edges early man used it to make cutting tools or arrowheads. Surprisingly, the edge of a piece of obsidian is superior to that of a surgeon’s steel scalpel. ![]() 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. 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. Another benefit to using obsidian scalpels is the reduction of healing time for surgical incisions. Obsidian under the microscope showing a complex fine-grained texture. The fine-grain is due to quick cooling magma. While the word scalpel derives from the Latin word scallpellus, the physical instruments surgeons use today started out as flint and obsidian cutting. ![]()
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