About T.E.S.T.

T.E.S.T is the student-team from Eindhoven University of Technology that participates in the annual SensUs competition. The team consists of eleven students from different disciplines and includes bachelor students from the faculties Biomedical Engineering, Medical Engineering and Technology, Applied Physics, Chemical Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering and Psychology and Technology.

For this competition, we will create a biosensor to detect an antibiotic called vancomycin. The detection and measurement of vancomycin needs to be very precise to be efficient and not harmful for patients. Such a biosensor will make the lives of many patients easier. We are very excited to create a well functional product that can be used in real life.

The team from Eindhoven University of 2017 won lots of prices last year, so we will try our best to work up to their achievements. Information about the teams from 2016 and 2017 can be found in Previous Teams. For more information about the SensUs competition we participate in, click here. The competition will this year be held at 7 and 8 September 2018 in the Auditorium of the Technical University Eindhoven.

T.E.S.T. 2018

Saray Bakker

Lotte van Dasler

Robert van Dijk

Leander van Eekelen

Tom Franken

Janneke Lukkezen

Jorg Mallens

Celine Pereboom

Dennis van de Sande

Ralf Schmidt

Ivar de Vries

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Interview with Saray Bakker from T.E.S.T.

What is the challenge this year?

Vancomycin is an antibiotic used when a patient has a severe bacterial infection. Therefore it is very important that the dosing of the antibiotic is correct. If the dosing is too high, there can be severe side effects. The goal of our biosensor is to accurately measure the concentration of vancomycin in the blood and make a small and easy to use device that can be easily carried.

Why is a biosensor necessary in health care?

At this moment the concentration of vancomycin is measured by big machines in hospitals which takes about 3 days. With our biosensor a doctor or nurse can measure the vancomycin concentration at home which makes the patient’s life easier. Our biosensor can also measure the blood values in 5 minutes so patients do not have to wait for results that long anymore. The concentration administered can also be more accurately at a certain time, because the data is processed far quicker.

Why did you join T.E.S.T. 2018?

T.E.S.T. is a student team where technology and healthcare come together. As a Biomedical Engineering student, this combination appeals to me. With this project I also wanted to develop my research skills and see how it is like to be part of a multidisciplinary student team.

What is your role in T.E.S.T.?

T.E.S.T. is a smaller student team, so everyone is involved in all aspects of the development of our biosensor. I am part of the laboratory team so you can find me mostly in the chemical and laser lab, but I also keep the website up to date and help with the overall exposure of our team. Other team members are more focused on for example the translation from a prototype to the real market or they are more involved in the hardware and software of the biosensor.

What was the best part of joining T.E.S.T. so far?

If an experiment does not work out as expected, you have to find out why it does not work. If you find the solution, that gives you a lot of energy.

We also won the TU/e contest in the student teams category, which resulted in 5000 euros to invest in our biosensor and really rewarded all our hard work.