A team of eight EPFL students has come up with a portable biosensor that can measure the amount of vancomycin in a patient’s blood stream, enabling doctors to better control the dosage and reduce harmful side effects. Their technology – developed for the upcoming SensUs international competition – could eventually be used for other antibiotics as well.
“We started working on the biosensor last fall alongside our coursework, and this summer have been working on it full-time. Being able to use the DLL has made our research a lot easier, since they have all the equipment we need,” says Alix Faillétaz, a Master’s student in bioengineering. This is the second year in a row that EPFL is participating in SensUs, where its team will be up against students from 12 other universities from around the world. “The competition was launched three years ago. It’s really demanding and is a huge challenge for the students. They must overcome a series of problems and learn to work together, trust each other and delegate tasks based on each individual’s specific skills,” says Professor Philippe Renaud, who is coaching the team.
Image Credit: Public domain
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