Colour sensors and their applications -- Addressing of concentration spaces for bioscreenings by micro segmented flow with microphotometric and microfluorimetric detection -- Nanotechnology for diagnostic and sensing: soft and advanced imaging/sensing approaches to analyze biomolecules -- Integrated Optical microsystems for interferometric analytics -- Label-free photonic chips for biosensing -- Surface Plasmon Resonance bioanalytical platform to appraise the interaction between antimicrobial peptides and lipid membranes -- Biological applications of Surface Plasmon Resonance Imaging -- Lab-on-a-Chip Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (LOC-SERS) -- Microfluidic Raman spectroscopy for biochemical sensing and analysis -- Polymeric microfluidic devices for high performance optical imaging and detection methods in bioanalytics -- Chip Systems for analysis of nucleic acids with integrated amplification and detection -- Optofluidic microsystems for application in biotechnology and life sciences.

This book describes the state of the art in the field of bioanalytical nano- and microsystems with optical functionality. In 12 chapters distinguished scientists and leaders in their respective fields show how various optical technologies have been miniaturized and integrated over the last few decades in order to be combined with nano- and microsystems for applications in the life sciences. The main detection and characterization technologies are introduced, and examples of the superiority of these integrated approaches compared to traditional ones are provided. Examples from e.g. the fields of optical waveguides, integrated interferometers, surface plasmon resonance or Raman spectroscopy are introduced and discussed, and it is shown how these approaches have led to novel functionalities and thereby novel applications.