Minerva

Hi all! We are Minerva, a team of ten undergraduate students, studying a variety of courses at Imperial College London. We are a motivated and ambitious team, with one common target shared; to design a biosensor for the detection of valproate in the blood and solve one of the main issues associated with the monitoring of epilepsy in patients. We have thrived on the unique experience SensUs have given us, to not only learn new skills and work with new people but also to follow an entire research and design process from start to finish!

Together, we have designed a microcantilever biosensor, utilising novel affimer technology to bind unbound valproate molecules (fVPA); allowing for label free detection. Our sensor features a unique microfluidic design, mixing modern pumping technology with a rarely seen droplet manipulation design.The use of SU-8 as the material of the microcantilever is rarely used commercially compared to the common use of silicon.

With the use of varied affimer technology and a replaceable cartridge our sensor also has the potential to be developed for detection of a variety of drugs and molecules, not only valproate!

Watch our one-minute pitch here
Watch our Creativity pitch here. 
Watch our Translational Potential pitch here.