Fish-spine beads have been used as a practical method of insulating wires with the beads interlocking together to provide continuous electrical insulation

Fish-spine steatite beads are short cylindrical tubes with one concave and one convex end and provide continuous shielding of a central conductor when stacked in a mating order.  Their versatility is most evident in nonlinear flexible applications. Flexibility is affected by the wire-to-ceramic coaxial clearance so that as the wire size increases, flexibility decreases.  The Steatite fishspine beads have excellent heat resistance and temperature resistance and are used in electrical temperatures where other material would not be suitable.