SERS nanotags and their applications in biosensing and bioimaging

Owing to the unique advantages of surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) in high sensitivity, specificity, multiplexing capability and photostability, it has been widely used in many applications, among which SERS biosensing and bioimaging are the focus in recent years. The successful applications of SERS for non-invasive biomarker detection and bioimaging under in vitro, in vivo and ex vivo conditions, offer significant clinical information to improve diagnostic and prognostic outcomes. This review provides recent developments and applications of SERS, in particular SERS nanotags in biosensing and bioimaging, describing case studies in which different types of biomarkers have been investigated, as well as outlining future challenges that need to be addressed before SERS sees both pathological and clinical use.