obsidian is used in heart surgery, as well-crafted obsidian blades have a cutting edge many times sharper than high-quality steel surgical scalpels, with the edge of the blade being only about 3 nm wide. even the sharpest metal knife has a jagged, irregular blade when viewed under a strong enough microscope. when examined under an electron microscope an obsidian blade is still smooth and even. one study found that obsidian produced narrower scars, fewer inflammatory cells, and less granulation tissue in a group of rats.