TissueDB/Materials/Sponge

A cleaning sponge — Yellow washing sponge used to simulate soft tissue layers in surgical simulators. CC0 via Wikimedia Commons.
License: CC0-1.0 by Robert Fotograf

Sponge (synthetic polyurethane or cellulose) is a compressible, low-cost material used in medical simulation to represent soft tissue layers. Available in multiple densities and colours, sponge provides visual and tactile approximation of subcutaneous tissue, organ parenchyma, and other compressible anatomical structures.

Tissues

Tissue	Visual	Tactile	Simulator	Notes
Adipose Tissue			Trocar Placement Simulator	Cut 15 cm × 15 cm (6 × 6 in). Cut 4 holes for pen holders. Layer between skin (white felt) and fascia (taped felt) layers.
Soft Tissue			Orthoplastic Reconstruction Simulator	Two 45 cm × 10 cm pieces. Place one below and one above fractured bone model segments. Glue edges if raised.
Skin and Subcutaneous Tissue	Partial	No	Intra-abdominal Bleeding Simulator (Fernandes)	Thin sponge layer bonded to EVA foam plate (72 × 54 cm); provides compressible subcutaneous layer beneath skin surface for laparotomy access (Fernandes et al. 2023).^[1]
Adipose Tissue (subcutaneous)			Laparoscopic Inguinal Hernia Repair Simulator (Kurashima)	Sponge of appropriate thickness simulates the subcutaneous adipose layer on the multilayer abdominal-wall insert. Specific thickness is not stated in the source paper. Source: Kurashima Y et al. 2011, Surg Innov 18(2):171–175. DOI 10.1177/1553350610395949. PMID 21307013.
Muscle			Laparoscopic Inguinal Hernia Repair Simulator (Kurashima)	Sponges of varying thicknesses simulate the muscle layers on the multilayer insert, with white stretchy fabric wrapped around each layer to create the fascia. The source states the insert has five layers in total and does not say how many are muscle, nor their thickness. Source: Kurashima Y et al. 2011, Surg Innov 18(2):171–175. DOI 10.1177/1553350610395949. PMID 21307013.

Used In Simulators

Simulator	Purpose	Notes
Intra-abdominal Bleeding Simulator (Fernandes)	Tissue-simulating material	Thin sponge layer combined with EVA foam to simulate skin and subcutaneous tissue for laparotomy access (Fernandes et al. 2023).^[1]

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Fernandes CO, Rodrigues LR, Silva do Amaral MLBS, de Morais Rodrigues SJ, Marton-Filho MA. Low-cost simulator for intra-abdominal bleeding. Rev Col Bras Cir 2023;50:e20233512. DOI: 10.1590/0100-6991e-20233512-en. PMID: 37971114. PMC: PMC10618030.

At a Glance

Overview

Synonyms

Craft sponge, foam sponge, cellulose sponge, polyurethane sponge. Regional: esponja (ES), éponge (FR), Schwamm (DE), spugna (IT), spons (NL).

Background

Clinical Context for Simulation

Processing & Preparation

Safety Considerations

Related Materials

Page data
SDG
Authors	Arturopelayo, Ian-laurel
License	CC-BY-SA-4.0
Language	English (en)
Related	0 subpages, 12 pages link here
Redirects	TissueDB/Materials/Sponges
Views	61 page views (analytics)
Created	December 2, 2025 by Ian-laurel
Last edit	July 13, 2026 by Arturo Pelayo
Cite as	Arturopelayo, Ian-laurel (2025–2026). "TissueDB/Materials/Sponge". Appropedia. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
API queries	basic, semantic, html, files, more

[fernandes2023-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Fernandes CO, Rodrigues LR, Silva do Amaral MLBS, de Morais Rodrigues SJ, Marton-Filho MA. Low-cost simulator for intra-abdominal bleeding. Rev Col Bras Cir 2023;50:e20233512. DOI: 10.1590/0100-6991e-20233512-en. PMID: 37971114. PMC: PMC10618030.

[1]