While the Stone Age blade does the job very efficiently, it is not for everyone as using it requires high level of expertise and cautiousness. Obsidian scalpels are also very expensive as compared to steel scalpels and can be extremely brittle if lateral forces are applied. They are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA as the blade is very thin, surgeons must be careful to only cut soft tissues as scraping a bone could result in breakage which may leave obsidian flakes inside the patient. Nevertheless, this special type of volcanic glass can also be used as an alternative material for surgical scalpel blades for patients who are allergic to steel or metal. “For studies where trace metals from ordinary scalpel blades cannot be tolerated, these very special obsidian scalpels may provide the answer,” says the obsidian manufacturing company from Germany.

Research also confirms that incisions carried out with obsidian produce narrower scars and fewer inflammatory cells. This is because on cellular level, obsidian knife cuts between cells rather than tearing it in case of a steel knife, hence, a sharper cut allows the wound to heal more easily with negligible scarring.When Bruce Dahlin underwent lung surgery here in early December, the operation, while under the most modern conditions, contained an echo from the age of the ancient Aztecs.Īt Dahlin's request, the surgeon made his first cut with a scalpel fashioned from obsidian, a rocky glass from volcanoes that the Aztecs used to make knives and razors.ĭahlin is the first human operated on as the result of an unusual research project that weds modern medicine with archeology and its study of the distant past.įirmon E.

Obsidian scalpel medical surgical