Detection of exosomes having surface markers

1. A spectral reflectance imaging system comprising:

a substrate having a first reflective surface and a semi-transparent layer providing a second reflective surface, wherein the semi-transparent layer is about 40 nm thick to about 70 nm thick;

a biolayer bound to the second reflective surface comprising one or more binding agents for binding one or more target extracellular vesicles;

an illumination source comprising at least one light source providing light in one narrow frequency band and directing the light at the substrate; and

an imaging device directed at the second reflective surface of the substrate and adapted to produce imaging signals representative of light from the illumination source being (i) reflected by the first reflective surface, (ii) reflected by the second reflective surface, and (iii) scattered by the one or more target extracellular vesicles bound to the second reflective surface.

2. The spectral reflectance imaging system according to claim 1 , wherein the first reflective surface is a silicon substrate and the semi-transparent layer is silicon oxide (Si02).

3. The spectral reflectance imaging system according to claim 1 , further comprising an image acquisition and processing system, coupled to the imaging device and adapted to receive the imaging signals and under program control, produce an image of the one or more target extracellular vesicles on the second reflective surface.

4. The spectral reflectance imaging system according to claim 1 , wherein the illumination source produces white light and the system further includes a colorwheel having at least one filter, each producing a beam of light in one of at least three narrow frequency bands that is directed at the substrate.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more target extracellular vesicles comprises an exosome.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the narrow frequency band comprises light having a wavelength of about 420 nm.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is immersed in aqueous solution.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the illumination source comprises a plurality of light sources, each providing light in a separate narrow frequency band.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the illumination source includes three or more incoherent light sources that produce light in at least three different wavelengths.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the illumination source comprises one or more light emitting diode(s) (LEDs), each having a different emission peak wavelengths.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein each of the different emission peak wavelengths are within a range of wavelengths from about 300 nm to about 800 nm.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the imaging device comprises a camera having a high magnification objective lens with a high numerical aperture.

13. The system of claim 3 , wherein the image acquisition and processing system comprises memory with one or more computer programs stored thereon that, when executed, cause the processing system to analyze the image to detect binding of the one or more target extracellular vesicles to the second reflective surface of the substrate.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the one or more computer programs, when executed, cause the processing system to determine a size of the one or more target extracellular vesicles bound to the second reflective surface of the substrate.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the one or more computer programs use a forward model to provide accurate and quantitative sizing of the one or more target extracellular vesicles.

16. A spectral reflectance imaging system comprising:

a substrate having a first reflective surface and a semi-transparent layer providing a second reflective surface, wherein the semi-transparent layer is about 40 nm thick to about 70 nm thick;

a biolayer bound to the second reflective surface and comprising one or more binding agents specific for binding a target extracellular vesicle;

an illumination source comprising a plurality of light sources, each providing, and directing at the substrate, light in a particular frequency band;

an imaging device directed at the second reflective surface of the substrate and adapted to produce imaging signals based on illumination of the substrate with the light from the illumination source; and

a computer system comprising one or more processing units and associated memory, the associated memory having one more computer programs stored thereon, which, when executed by the processing units:

cause, via control of the illumination source, sequential illumination of the substrate with light from each of the plurality of light sources, thereby illuminating the substrate with light in each particular frequency band; and

for each particular frequency band, store and process image signals from the imaging device to produce a corresponding image of the substrate surface with the target extracellular vesicle bound thereon.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein, for at least one particular frequency band, the corresponding image is an interferometric image representative of light from the light source being (i) reflected by the first reflective surface of the substrate and (ii) scattered by the target extracellular vesicle bound to the second reflective surface.

18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the target extracellular vesicle is labeled with a secondary marker comprising a fluorescent molecule and at least one corresponding image comprises a fluorescent signal from the secondary marker.