Researchers Deliver Rapid Wastewater Disease Detection — with Origami-Folded Wax Paper

Researchers from Cranfield University, the University of Glasgow, and Zhejiang University have designed sensors that could assist with early detection for a range of infectious diseases including COVID-19 — made out of origami-folded paper.

"During COVID-19 we proved that fast community sewage analysis is a really effective way to track infectious diseases and help manage public health," Zhugen Yang, professor of biosensing and environment health at Cranfield University and project lead, explains. "The simple test we have developed costs just £1 [around $1.33] and uses the commonly available camera function in a mobile phone, making it readily accessible. This could be a real game-changer when it comes to predicting disease rates and improving public health in the face of future pandemics.”

The team's sensors are designed for ease of production and a low per-sensor cost, using wax-printed origami-folded paper as a microfluidic platform for samples of wastewater. Chemicals in the paper react to markers of the target disease — with the team having proven the platform for detection of SARS-CoV-2, influenza A, and influenza B so far — in a way that fluoresces under ultraviolet light. Snapping a picture with a smartphone camera while shining a UV torch at the sensor is enough to provide a reading — and one at least as accurate as a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, but at a lower cost and with a more rapid turnaround.

The sensors were tested in-the-field as part of a wastewater surveillance program in 2021, demonstrating their capabilities at four COVID-19 quarantine hotels situated around the UK's Heathrow Airport. In total, the process took 90 minutes from sample to detection — compared to four hours for a traditional PCR test.

The team's work has been published in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science under open-access terms.

Main article image courtesy of the Board of Trustees of the Science Museum.