Optical sensor technology has reached a level of technological maturity that makes it a promising candidate for applications to specific sensing challenges including those in environmental monitoring, in process control (particularly in biotechnology), in clinical assays where low-cost one-way sensing elements are needed, and in other areas. Optical sensors can be used as fiber optic microsensors, as planar coatings in bioreactors, in microtiterplate format, in disposable single-shot devices, and as planar membranes that can be imaged using sensitive cameras. The spectral range extends from the UV to the infrared, and from absorption to emission and to surface plasmon resonance. Hence, a variety of schemes are conceivable, and this first volume of the Springer Series on Chemical Sensors and Biosensors gives a state-of-the-art description of this highly sophisticated but very promising technology.

1 Optical Technology until the Year 2000: An Historical Overview

2 Molecularly Imprinted Polymers for Optical Sensing Devices
3 Chromogenic and Fluorogenic Reactands: New Indicator Dyes for Monitoring Amines, Alcohols and Aldehydes
4 Design, Quality Control and Normalization of Biosensor Chips
5 Rapid, Multiplex Optical Biodetection for Point-of-Care Applications
6 Multi-functional Biochip for Medical Diagnostics and Pathogen Detection
7 Surface Plasmon Resonance Biosensors for Food Safety
8 NIR Dyes for Ammonia and HCI Sensors
9 Piezo-Optical Dosimeters for Occupational and Environmental Monitoring
10 Interferometric Biosensors for Environmental Pollution Detection
11 Fibre-optic Sensors for Humidity Monitoring
12 Optical Sensing of pH in Low Ionic Strength Waters
13 Environmental and Industrial Optosensing with Tailored Luminescent Ru(II) Polypyridyl Complexes
14 TIFR Array Biosensor for Environmental Monitoring
15 Optical Techniques for Determination and Sensing of Hydrogen Peroxide in Industrial and Environmental Samples.