1. A molecular interferometric imaging system for detecting an analyte in a sample, the molecular interferometric imaging system comprising: an illumination source providing a beam of radiation; a pixel array comprising a plurality of pixels for detecting radiation at a plurality of locations in an image plane to produce an image comprising a plurality of pixel readings; a biolayer designed to react to the analyte when the biolayer comes in contact with the sample; a substrate, the biolayer being located on the substrate, the substrate being designed to convert phase modulation into intensity modulation which can be detected and imaged directly by the pixel array; a reference surface; an image switching means for switching between a first position in which the beam provided by the illumination source is incident on the biolayer and a reflected sample beam is produced which is directed to the pixel array to generate a sample image, and a second position in which the beam provided by the illumination source is incident on the reference surface and a reflected reference beam is produced which is directed to the pixel array to generate a reference image; and a processing means for producing a composite image using the sample image and the reference image for illumination normalization.