
Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Capsule (anatomy)
Introduction
A capsule, in anatomy, is a cover or envelope partly or wholly surrounding a structure. Types of capsules include:
- the shell of an egg (biology)
- joint capsules – every diarthrodial joint possesses a fibrous or ligamentous capsule, lined with synovial membrane, attached to the adjacent ends of the articulating bones
- the sac which encloses the crystalline lens of the eye
- Glisson’s capsule, a thin areolar coat of fibrous tissue lying inside the tunica serosa of the liver
- Bowman’s capsules (or glomerular capsules) in the kidney substance
- the renal capsule (also known as Gerota’s fascia), a tough fibrous layer surrounding the kidney and covered in a thick layer of perinephric adipose tissue
- the suprarenal capsules, two small flattened organs in the epigastric region
- the internal, external and extreme capsules of the brain
- the outer surface of a benign tumor
