This entry was posted in Fall 2018 by mbarretttzannes. “Obsidian.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.,, Additional Readings/videos “Obsidian.” Geology, /rocks/obsidian.shtml.īritannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “How Stone Age Blades Still Cut It in Surgery.” CNN, Cable News Network, 2 Apr. The scalpels can also be helpful for patients who might be allergic to the materials used for most surgical tools, such as steel and metal. Obsidian has been used as a cutting tool since the Stone Age, but modern versions of obsidian scalpels are manufactured by a Virginia archaeologist using a pressure flaking process. The handles are often reusable, with the blades being replaceable. Obsidian tools have their time and place. Surgical scalpels consist of two parts, a blade and a handle. Green also knows that using obsidian in medicine is a technique is not useful for every procedure and for every surgeon. Green receives his obsidian scalpels from an expert flint knapper, Errett Callahan. While it may seem odd to be using tools from the stone age in modern medicine, the blades being used today are different than those of ancient humans. In some cases this makes the relatively inexpensive obsidian scalpel a suitable. These scalpels can be used for precise cutting in surgery. These ultra fine cutting edges have been used in human surgical. Green has observed that following procedures with obsidian scalpels, patients experience much less scarring than in the same procedure done with steel tools.Ī modern obsidian scalpel. Obsidian’s makeup creates a smooth and continuous edge on a blade, while regular steel tools have a rough edge on their blades at a microscopic level, which can tear into tissue and leave the patient with a longer healing process and more intense scarring. Lee Green at the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Alberta says it is not uncommon for him to use obsidian blades in his work. Product Overview: Obsidian Scalpels Select a product from the categories below. For its extreme sharpness, modern surgeons have continued to utilize obsidian tools in their work, especially in precise surgeries. Fine Science Tools is the leading distributor of precision European surgical and microsurgical instruments to the scientific and biomedical research community. An obsidian blade measures in at only 30 angstroms, making it very useful in precise cutting. The average household razor blade is somewhere between 300 and 600 angstroms (unit of measurement used to measure blade fineness). Obsidian has incredibly useful and unique properties. Obsidian is especially useful for its sharp properties, and this is the reason obsidian tools are still on the market and being studied and used in the twenty first century. Arrowheads would only be found in areas where hunting by bow and arrow was prevalent. In four weeks post-surgery, the traditional scalpel cut healing was scarring and visibly disturbed. The difference in healing was visible, even without a microscope. Two arrowheads produced from obsidian through the process of knapping. Both an Obsidian scalpel as well as a traditional medical one were used on the same surgical location on the body, with the patient’s agreement.
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