A mechanically validated open-source silicone model for the training of gastric perforation sewing

BACKGROUND: Gastrointestinal perforation is commonly seen in emergency departments. The perforation of the stomach is an emergency situation that requires immediate surgical treatment. The necessary surgical skills require regular practical training. Owing to patient`s safety, in vivo training opportunities in medicine are restricted. Animal tissue especially porcine tissue, is commonly used for surgical training. Due to its limiting factors, artificial training models are often to be preferred. Many artificial models are on the market but to our knowledge, none that mimic the haptic- and sewing properties of a stomach wall at the same time. In this study, an open source silicone model of a gastric perforation for training of gastric sewing was developed that attempts to provide realistic haptic- and sewing behaviour. METHODS: To simulate the layered structure of the human stomach, different silicone materials were used to produce three different model layups. The production process was kept as simple as possible to make it easily reproducible. A needle penetration setup as well as a systematic haptic evaluation were developed to compare these silicone models to a real porcine stomach in order to identify the most realistic model. RESULTS: A silicone model consisting of three layers was identified as being the most promising and was tested by clinical surgeons. CONCLUSIONS: The presented model simulates the sewing characteristics of a human stomach wall, is easily reproducible at low-costs and can be used for practicing gastric suturing techniques. TRIAL REGISTRATIONS: Not applicable. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12909-023-04174-8.