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This SELF Tissue Database helps learners, course developers, and instructors find existing simulators and identify appropriate materials and tissues to design or teach with low-cost, reproducible surgical simulators. Each page documents common tissues, recommended materials, and linked simulators to support hands-on surgical education and practice.
Tissues & Structures
Simulated tissues and structures
- Adipose Tissue
- Bile
- Bile Duct
- Bladder
- Bladder Neck
- Blood
- Blood Vessel
- Bone
- Bone Marrow
- Bowel
- Brain
- Breast
- Bronchial Tissue
- Cartilage
- Cervix
- Connective Tissue
- Cornea
- Cremaster Muscle
- Cricothyroid Membrane
- Cyst
- Diaphragm
- Ducts
- Dura Mater
- Ectopic Mass
- Esophagus
- Fascia
- Gallbladder
- Granulation Tissue
- Hernia Sac
- Iliac Vessels
- Inferior Vena Cava
- Inguinal Canal
- Inguinal Region
- Inguinal Wall
- Internal Inguinal Ring
- Joint Capsule
- Kidney
- Ligament
- Limb
- Lip
- Liver
- Lung
- Lymph node
- Mesentery
- Mucosa
- Muscle
- Nasal lining
- Nerve
- Ovary
- Pancreas
- Pelvis
- Penis
- Periosteum
- Peritoneum and Serosa
- Placental Tissue
- Pleural Effusion
- Preperitoneal Fat
- Prostate
- Pus
- Rib
- Skin
- Spermatic Cord
- Spleen
- Stomach
- Taenia coli
- Testicular Artery
- Testis
- Thyroid
- Trachea
- Tumor
- Umbilical Cord
- Umbilicus
- Uterine Tissue
- Uvula
- Vas Deferens
- Velar musculature
- Vocal Fold
- Vomit
Materials
Physical substances for simulating tissues
- ABS
- Agar
- Albumin
- Alginate
- Aluminum Foil
- Animal Blood Vessel
- Animal Bone
- Animal Skin
- Ballistic Gel
- Balloon
- Bamboo
- Batting
- Beans, Dried
- Bicycle Inner Tube
- Body Lotion
- Bovine trachea (ex vivo)
- Cardboard
- Carrageenan
- Castable Materials
- Cellulose Fibers
- Chalk
- Chicken Wing
- Cigarette Paper
- Cloth, Knitted
- Cloth, Woven
- Coated Fabric
- Cocktail Onions
- Collagen Fiber
- Condom
- Connective bands
- Corn Syrup
- Dental Impression Material
- Doll or manikin
- Elastic Cord
- Elastic ties
- Evaporated Milk
- Felt
- Foam
- Foam, rigid
- Foam, soft
- Gauze
- Gelatin
- Gelatin-Glycerol Gel
- Glove
- Glycerine
- Goat or lamb hind leg
- Grapefruit
- Grapes
- Graphite Powder
- Hydrogels
- Ink or Dye
- Ink or Dye/zh
- Intravenous fluid bag
- Latex, Liquid
- Mask, Surgical
- Micropipette Tip
- Modeling Clay
- Monofilament
- Non-woven polypropylene bag
- Normal Saline
- Olives
- PETG
- PLA
- PVC
- PVC Plastisol
- Paper
- Photopolymer Resin
- Plaster Bandage
- Plastic Film
- Plastic Pipe
- Plastic Sheet
- Plastic Tubing
- Plastic bottle
- Polyvinyl Alcohol
- Polyvinyl Alcohol/zh
- Pomelo
- Pork Belly
- Power Mesh Fabric
- Psyllium
- SLA
- Sand
- Sausage
- Sawbones
- Silica Dioxide
- Silicone, Castable
- Silicone Beads
- Silicone Sheet
- Slime
- Soap
- Staples
- Starch
- Suture
- Synthetic skin pad
- Talcum Powder
- Tape
- Thermoplastic Elastomers
- Vegetable Oil
- Wire
- Wood
- Yarn
- Zip tie
Simulators
Medical simulators
- Abdominal Wall Defect Simulator (Medeiros)
- Acute Appendicitis Simulator
- Adult Proximal Tibia Intraosseous Access Simulator (maxSIMIO)
- Appendectomy Simulator
- Bowel Anastomosis Simulator (Habti)
- Bronchoscopy-Guided Percutaneous Dilatational Tracheostomy Simulator (Kattan)
- Bronchoscopy Anatomical Trainer (Di Domenico)
- CPR Simulator (Leiton-Espinoza)
- Cervical Cancer Screening Simulator
- Chest Tube Insertion Simulator (Bettega)
- Chest Tube Insertion Simulator (Brannan)
- Chest Tube Insertion Simulator (Man-O-War)
- Chest Tube Insertion Simulator (Man-O-War)/fr
- Cleft Palate Repair Simulator (Nicholas)
- Cranial Burr Hole and Craniotomy Simulator (Bakhshi)
- Cricothyroidotomy Simulator (Gauger)
- Cricothyrotomy Simulator (Aho)
- Cricothyrotomy Simulator (Calvo)
- Cricothyrotomy Simulator (D'Auria)
- Cricothyrotomy Simulator (Kei)
- Cricothyrotomy Simulator (Muller)
- Cricothyrotomy Simulator (White UW)
- Emergency Department Thoracotomy Simulator (Misra)
- Foley Catheter Tamponade Simulator
- Grapefruit Distal Anterior Cerebral Artery Bypass Simulator
- Hemorrhage Control Simulator (Malik)
- Humeral Fracture Fixation Simulator
- IUD Insertion Simulator
- Infant Intraosseous Infusion Simulator (Micallef)
- Infant Intraosseous Infusion Simulator (Micallef)/zh
- Injection Laryngoplasty Simulator (Lee)
- Injection Laryngoplasty Simulator (Lee)/tr
- Intra-abdominal Bleeding Simulator (Fernandes)
- Knot Tying Force-Feedback Simulator (Amiel)
- Laparoscopic Appendectomy Simulator (Roche)
- Laparoscopic Box Trainer Simulator
- Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy Simulator
- Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy Simulator (Casas-Murillo)
- Laparoscopic Diaphragmatic Repair Simulator
- Laparoscopic Ectopic Pregnancy Simulator
- Laparoscopic Inguinal Hernia Repair Simulator (Hanssen)
- Laparoscopic Inguinal Hernia Repair Simulator (Kurashima)
- Laparoscopic Inguinal Hernioplasty TAPP 3D Simulator (Pires de Melo Filho)
- Long Bone Drilling Simulator
- Lower Limb Deformity Correction Simulator
- Lumbar Laminectomy and Dural Closure Simulator (Bakhshi)
- Massive Hemoptysis Simulator (New)
- Meckel's Diverticulectomy Simulator
- Melanoma Excision Simulator (maxSIMhealth)
- Multipurpose Thoracic Simulator (Carter)
- Neonatal ETT Ultrasound Simulator (Qaim Ali)
- Neonatal Enterocutaneous Anastomosis Simulator
- Neonatal Ventilation Simulator (Haynes)
- Open Appendectomy Simulator (Matthews)
- Orthoplastic Reconstruction Simulator
- Paediatric Airway Management Trainer (Carter)
- Patent Ductus Arteriosus Ligation Simulator
- Pediatric Forearm Fracture Simulator
- Pediatric Front-of-Neck Access Simulator (Kovatch)
- Pediatric Inguinal Hernia Repair Simulator (Heo)
- Pediatric Laparoscopic Inguinal Hernia Repair Simulator (Duboureau)
- Percutaneous Renal Access Simulator (Ewald)
- Peripheral Intravenous Catheterization Trainer
- Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta Simulator (Keller)
- Skin Graft Harvesting Simulator (Cohen)
- Soft Tissue Lesion Simulator
- Suction-Assisted Laryngoscopy and Airway Decontamination Simulator (Kumar)
- Superficial Temporal Artery-Middle Cerebral Artery Bypass Trainer
- Suture Simulator (Almeida)
- Suturing Simulator (Kumaresan)
- Synthetic Tourniquet Training Model (Souza Lima)
- Thermal Ablation Simulator
- Thoracoscopic Diaphragmatic Hernia Repair Simulator (Barsness)
- Tibial Shaft Transverse Fracture Simulator
- Tourniquet Simulator
- Trocar Placement Simulator
- Trocar Placement Simulator/es
- Urinary Catheterization Simulator (Gillis)
- Urinary Catheterization Simulator (Gillis)/es
- Vascular Anastomosis Simulator (Cubas)
- VesselBox Vessel Ligation Trainer (Hu)
- Wound Packing Simulator
- Z-Plasty Simulator
- Z-Plasty Simulator (maxSIMhealth)