Liquid biopsy promises non-invasive collection and characterization of diagnostic-relevant samples, with small extracellular vesicles (exosomes) playing an increasingly important role. While surface molecular markers are often used to select and analyze exosomes with specific disease characteristics, label-free methodologies have been developed, with the benefit of single exosome analysis that may uncover exosome heterogeneity and its role in pathology. We present examples of Raman and SERS for single exosome characterization, highlighting strategies for exosome capturing, signal collection, and data analysis. In addition, we discuss limitations, with emphasis on capturing, where very few pathology-relevant exosomes are available for analysis.
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