The aim of this thesis is to demonstrate that the integration of functional materials into miniaturised platforms may be used for the development of simplified and compact microsystems for chemical and cell monitoring. In particular, ionogel microstructures have been integrated into microfluidic platforms for pH sensing and for lipid nanotube formation and monitoring. In addition, 2D patterning of proteins has been used to develop a novel strategy to monitor cellular adhesion and cellular death. Finally, the combination of electroactive and stimuli-responsive polymers on microelectrodes has been used to develop a method for the selective capture of cells and their triggered release with simultaneous monitoring of the behaviour of the cells on the polymer electrodes.

All the sensing approaches reported in this thesis are highly versatile. The performance of each microsystem was demonstrated for an individual sensing assay or for a specific cell type, but their versatility could allow them to be used for other type of sensing assays or cells, after some modifications. Moreover, they all have in common the optical readout, with no need of sophisticated equipment. For instance, simple and easily available microscopes have been used to interpret the colorimetric signal of pH sensing ionogels and to visualise the integrated polymeric micropillars for lipid nanotube production. Cells were analysed using an optical microscope available in most of cell laboratories. On the other hand, in the case of the cell capture and release system, the optical monitoring was complemented with a potentiostat for the simultaneous electrical monitoring of cell behaviour.