A sterile device intended to be used during minimally-invasive surgery, in particular laparoscopic surgery, to filter surgical smoke (plume created by, e.g., electrosurgical diathermy, a laser or sonic scalpel) of potentially harmful agents (e.g., noxious chemicals, particulates, viruses, bacteria) without loss of pneumoperitoneum. It is typically a multi-layered filter pouch intended to be connected to a trocar stopcock; it is intended to help protect surgical staff from ambient exposure to potentially harmful agents. This is a single-use device.