SensUs is a student team that doesn't build a tangible product, but an ecosystem: a global platform where students, alumni, and companies can exchange knowledge about biosensors. 

The SensUs competition is a way to challenge students to develop a biosensor and to bring them into contact with one another. They will come to Eindhoven from August 24 through 28 to present their research and innovations at TU/e. This year, nineteen university teams from the Americas, Europe, and Asia are taking part.

TU/e itself is not represented: due to a lack of members, home team T.E.S.T. has to miss out for the first time.

Parkinson

“The goal of SensUs is to demonstrate the potential of biosensor technology,” says Ouiam El Ouasdad, chair of team SensUs. “The students’ assignment is to develop a continuous biosensor to measure medication concentration in the blood of Parkinson’s patients.”

Currently, this type of continuously working sensor is only known as a glucose monitor for diabetics. For patients with Parkinson’s, it is also very important that the concentration of the medication levodopa is measured continuously. Levodopa doesn’t cure the disease, but it does reduce symptoms. These include tremors, depression, anxiety, and the loss of taste and smell.

“How much medication is needed differs from patient to patient,” says El Ouasdad. “If the concentration is too low, Parkinson’s symptoms can return. If the concentration is too high, side effects such as involuntary movements can occur. That has a major impact on daily life.”

Four awards

What the nineteen teams have accomplished since the kick-off in February will be assessed during the week of August 24 by two jury panels, an algorithm, and the public. Visitors will have the chance to vote for the teams that, in their view, best convey their ideas through pitches and a poster market in Atlas.

The jury panels consist of international experts. For the Innovation Award, one panel assesses how technologically innovative the ideas are. The other looks at which sensors have a good chance of reaching the market. 

“To be eligible for the Translation Potential Award, we also ask teams to talk to patients and doctors. Without taking patients’ needs into account, success on the market is uncertain. In addition, a solid business plan has to be drawn up.”

How well the sensor works will be tested on Tuesday in the TU/e innovation Space. For this, SensUs developed an algorithm. “It must be demonstrated that the biosensor measures the levodopa level continuously—that is, without student intervention—and accurately.”

Innovation Advancement Pilot

TU/e’s wish is that the development of continuous biosensors doesn’t stop once the awards have been handed out. The chair of SensUs noticed this after her pitch at Innovation Night in November, much to her delight. 

“Ton Backx, director of Universiteitsfonds Eindhoven, came up to me and proposed awarding three grants of 3,300 euros each, which a team could use to further develop its idea. We call it the Innovation Advancement Pilot.”

The top three of each of the three content-based awards (all except the audience award) are eligible for the rewards. SensUs and UFe choose the winners. There is only one requirement: that the money be spent on establishing a meaningful connection with Eindhoven and Brainport. “In this way, we hope not only to reward promising biosensor innovations, but also to actually bring them a step closer to practical application,” says El Ouasdad.

This article was translated using AI-assisted tools and reviewed by an editor.