The development of detection/sensing techniques significantly increased when micro and nanotechnologies impacted upon and improved our standard of living and became essential in numerous fields especially those linked with life sciences. In this context, the development of sensors and measuring systems capable of detecting and following the interactions of specific molecules is now a scientific field undergoing constant evolution.  The quest for even more sensitivity and greater selectivity spanning several orders of magnitude is now considered obligatory for a fuller, deeper understanding of physical mechanisms underlying complex physical chemical reactions.  Early sensitive detection allows for example diagnostics of certain illnesses well before the appearance of specific symptoms and thus permits efficient treatment of the illness due to the development of new drugs or treatment. ALFASENS, whose specific goal is to follow protein polymerisation in order to carry out precocious diagnosis and understand those mechanisms responsible for illnesses linked to conformational irregularities in proteins, is an interdisciplinary project in which engineering, physical chemistry and biology are intermingled compelling each team to contribute their specific expertise and to be receptive to the other disciplines involved.  This interdisciplinary approach provides the means to cover all of the problems associated with the development of detection tools and necessarily leads to innovation in the field of instrument development.