Paper-origami devices for COVID-19
Pathogen detection is significantly important for both infectious disease diagnostics and wastewater surveillance. The current gold standard method for pathogen detection is the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), but it requires centralised facilities and skilled personnel. There is thus an urgent need to develop rapid and sensitive platforms for the identification and quantification of pathogens. Here, we present a low cost and deployable paper-based device for detection of pathogens in both clinical and environmental samples including field testing of infectious diseases (e.g. malaria), and testing wastewater for early warning of the pandemic (1).
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Paper for rapid diagnostics
The paper-origami device was initially developed for testing of bovine infectious reproductive diseases, which enabled a multiplexed, and sample-to-answer paper-origami test to identify bovine herpes virus-1 and two bacteria from semen samples in rural India and was able to measure < 1 pg of target genomic DNA (Figure 1A) (2). The device also allows for genetic material extraction and purification, which in combination with isothermal amplification and lateral flow detection enabled rapid diagnosis of malaria DNA in less than 50 minutes (Figure 1B) (3). It has been field-tested in Uganda to show a promising sensitivity and specificity. Wastewater-based epidemiology
Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has shown to be a powerful tool for early warning of infectious disease including SARS-CoV-2, which enables the analysis of biomarkers from wastewater to understand health information at the community level. We developed a paper-based lateral flow device to quantify human-specific mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in wastewater, providing a rapid method for monitoring genetic biomarkers (Figure 1C) (4). For example, the infectious respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 has evolved into a global pandemic and the paper-based device is becoming a rapid tool to test wastewater for early warning of the outbreak within the support of a UK national COVID-19 wastewater epidemiology surveillance programme (N-WESP). |
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To sum up, paper-based devices are cost-effective, highly selective, sensitive, portable, and easy to use.
They provide a rapid platform for both individual diagnosis and sewage testing for public health assessment (5). The device also has the potential to be integrated as a point-of-care biosensor system with mobile health for wastewater-based epidemiology (iBMW) for early warning of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, screening and diagnosis of potential infectors, and improving health care and public health (6).
They provide a rapid platform for both individual diagnosis and sewage testing for public health assessment (5). The device also has the potential to be integrated as a point-of-care biosensor system with mobile health for wastewater-based epidemiology (iBMW) for early warning of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, screening and diagnosis of potential infectors, and improving health care and public health (6).
References
- K. Mao, H. Zhang, Y. Pan , Z. Yang, Water Res. 2021, 191, 116787.
- Z. Yang, G. L. Xu, J. Reboud, S. A. Ali, G. Kaur, J. McGiven, N. Boby, P. K. Gupta, P. Chaudhuri, J. M. Cooper, ACS Sens . 2018, 3, 403-409.
- J. Reboud, G. L. Xu, A. Garrett, M. Adriko, Z. Yang, E. M. Tukahebwa, C. Rowell, J. M. Cooper, Proc. Natl Acad . Sci. U. S. A. 2019, 116, 4834-4842.
- Z. Yang, G. L. Xu, J. Reboud, B. Kasprzyk-Hordern, J. M. Cooper, Anal. Chem. 2017, 89, 9941-9945
- K. Mao, H. Zhang, Z. Yang, Environ. Sci. Technol. 2020, 54, 3733-3735.
- K. Mao, H. Zhang, Z. Yang, Biosens. Bioelectron. 2020, 169, 112617.
