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Table 1 Single EV characterization techniques

From: Toward characterizing extracellular vesicles at a single-particle level

Technique

Detection principle

Size range

Concentration range (particle/mL)

Throughput (particle /min)

Optical methods

 Nanoparticle tracking analysis

Brownian motion, scattered and fluorescent lights

50 nm − 1 μm

107–109

6000

 Dark-field microscopy

Scattered light

>  50 nm

relative

–

 Flow cytometry

Scattered and fluorescent lights

20 nm −40 μm

107–1010

10,000

 Laser tweezers Raman spectroscopy

Inelastically scattered light

20 nm −100 μm

relative

0.2

Non-optical methods

 Electron microscopy

Scattered electrons

1 nm −10 μm

1010–1012

–

 Atomic force microscopy

Interaction forces between the probing tip and the sample

1 nm

relative

–

 Impedance-based flow cytometry

Coulter principle

50 nm −10 μm

105–1012

3000

Digital methods

 Digital PCR

PCR in partitions

–

<  200

200

 Digital ELISA

ELISA in partitions

–

<  104

1500