Disclosed herein are synthetic anatomical models, and methods of making and using same, that are designed to enable simulated use testing by medical device companies, medical device designers, individual inventors, or any other entity interested in the performance of medical devices. These models are unique in possessing a level of complexity that allows them to be substituted for either a live animal, an animal cadaver, or a human cadaver in the testing of these devices. These models are further characterized by a similarity of geometry, individual component physical characteristics, and component-to-component interfacial properties with the appropriate target tissue and anatomy.