Capsule (anatomy)

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