Sapphire knives - with a sapphire knife, thinner sections are possible. The near perfect cutting edge of this knife / blade gives distortion-free sections down to 10 microns thick Sapphire, while not as hard as tungsten carbide or diamond, is still hundreds of times harder than steel razor blades. This hardness translates into increased durability and sharper edges resulting in improved section quality, particularly in electrophysiology applications. By making a cleaner cut, the surface cells remain alive and intact, thereby available for the researcher to more easily explore the live and responsive interior cells. With proper care, they can produce thousands of sections
