Discussion on optical integration in Lab‐on‐a‐Chip microsystems for medical diagnostics

We present here a comprehensive description of the state-of-the-art in the field of Lab-on-a-Chip microsystems and emphasize the role of integration of optical components into the chip. Some of our concepts in this area are also mentioned. Optical integration will potentially allow building up more complex and more efficient Lab-on-a-Chip analyzers with improved autonomy. Lab-on-a-Chip microsystems with integrated optoelectronic components are expected to be of great importance for the development of new medical diagnostic instruments for point-of-care applications.