Decapsulate

Decapsulation, often described with the verb decapsulate, is the process of removing an outer capsule, shell, or encapsulation from an object. The term appears in several technical disciplines, each with its own methods and purposes.

In microbiology and bacteriology, many bacterial species are encapsulated because they produce a polysaccharide capsule that surrounds the cell body. Decapsulation in this context refers to removing the capsule to study the underlying cell, improve staining, or facilitate DNA extraction. It is typically performed under controlled laboratory conditions and can affect virulence, identification, and serotyping.

In electronics and materials analysis, decapsulation refers to stripping the protective encapsulation around an integrated circuit or microelectromechanical device to expose the die and interconnects for inspection. This is used in failure analysis, provenance verification, and quality control. Techniques range from mechanical removal to chemical etching and laser-assisted processes, often conducted in specialized facilities due to safety and contamination concerns.

In networking and telecommunications, decapsulation is the process of removing protocol headers and trailers that were added to data as it traversed a protocol stack. Decapsulation occurs as a packet moves from a lower to a higher layer, allowing higher-level protocols to interpret the payload. It is the inverse of encapsulation and is essential for proper data delivery and interpretation across layers.

Across domains, decapsulation serves analytical or operational goals but raises safety, ethical, and data integrity considerations, particularly when handling biological samples or proprietary hardware.