SensUs is a community that raises awareness about the importance of biosensors in modern health care.  Since 2016, the Eindhoven University of Technology organizes this international competition to stimulate the development of innovative biosensors. This year, thirteen Universities from around the world gather a multi-disciplinary team, each team team member has having their their field of expertise and together they design and develop a biosensor. Over the course of nine months, each team will builds a biosensor and the corresponding business plan, which will be put to the test and showcased to the world on the 3^rd of September during an public event.

This year the team of Belgian’s oldest university KU Leuven will participate under the name PULSe. PULSe ( Point of care University of Leuven Sensors ) is the incredibly motivated interdisciplinary team of students representing KU Leuven at the sixth edition of the SensUs competition. The team is made up of eleven driven students that are guided by five coaches. The whole team works under the supervision of the MeBioS-Biosensors group of Prof. Jeroen Lammertyn.

Early detection is crucial for preventing spreading of infectious diseases. Biosensors offer an easy-to-use, cheap and rapid solution suitable for both, point-of-care as well as home applications. Additionally, they serve as a tool for democratizing healthcare access in the world. As a consequence, biosensors play a significant role in the current pursuit of advancing healthcare and have a vast potential to substantially improve the quality of human’s life.

Influenza A viruses have been causing infections of human populations for more than a century; H1N1 Spanish Flu (1918), H2N2 Asian flu (1957),  H3N2 Hong Kong flu (1968), and most recently the pandemic in 2009 caused by a mutation of H1N1. Together they have cost over a 100 million lives. And even now, the flu causes hundreds of thousands of deaths yearly. The current pandemic has taught us how important early detection and surveillance is and that is why this year’s theme revolves around early detection of the  H1N1 strain.