A Manually driven Centrifugal Microfluidic-LAMP Platform for Rapid and Visual Detection of Waterborne Pathogens in Aquatic Sports

A Manually driven Centrifugal Microfluidic-LAMP Platform for Rapid and Visual Detection of Waterborne Pathogens in Aquatic Sports | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article A Manually driven Centrifugal Microfluidic-LAMP Platform for Rapid and Visual Detection of Waterborne Pathogens in Aquatic Sports YANJING CHEN, LINXIAO WU, WANGXIN DING, ZHENHE DONG, YAN ZHANG This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7032792/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 13 Dec, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 13 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The increasing prevalence of aquatic sports presents significant public health concerns due to the risk of infections from waterborne pathogens. Conventional detection methods are often labor intensive, rely on sophisticated laboratory instrumentation, and are inadequate for meeting the urgent demand for onsite, point-of-care testing (POCT). This study reports the development and validation of an integrated POCT platform. The system incorporates three core modules: 1) an instrument-free, syringeactuated device for simple nucleic acid extraction; 2) a PMMA microfluidic chip enabling uniform sample distribution to multiple reaction chambers via manual centrifugation; and 3) a visual, pH indicator-based loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay. The primers and reaction chemistries were systematically optimized for pathogens, including Staphylococcus aureus and Shigella flexneri. The developed platform enables a sample-to-answer workflow in approximately 60 minutes, with an analytical limit of detection (LOD) of 10–100 copies per reaction. Notably, the microfluidic chip platform showed enhanced performance compared to conventional tube-based assays in both sensitivity and stability, particularly yielding more robust results for low-titer samples. Furthermore, the simplified extraction method achieved a recovery efficiency for gram-negative bacteria comparable to that of commercial kits, while noting differences in efficiency for gram-positive strains. The integrated platform exhibited high specificity and robustness against interferents in simulated contaminated water. This work demonstrates a user-friendly, cost-effective, and fully integrated platform for the visual detection of multiple pathogens, requiring only a portable heating module for its entire operation. The platform not only offers a viable technical solution for onsite safety monitoring in aquatic sports but also validates the concept of "backend compensation": a well-designed detection module can help offset the performance loss from simplified frontend sample preparation. This philosophy provides valuable insights for developing reliable POCT systems destined for real-world, resource-limited settings. Biological sciences/Biological techniques Biological sciences/Biotechnology Physical sciences/Engineering Biological sciences/Microbiology Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 13 Dec, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 11 Nov, 2025 Reviews received at journal 10 Nov, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 28 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 26 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 03 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 17 Aug, 2025 Reviews received at journal 19 Jul, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 10 Jul, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 09 Jul, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 09 Jul, 2025 Editor invited by journal 09 Jul, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 08 Jul, 2025 First submitted to journal 08 Jul, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7032792","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":483610950,"identity":"fc139fef-a66e-419b-a8a5-b4a47f5329ef","order_by":0,"name":"YANJING CHEN","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABCUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACCQjFzMbAwPgATZCwFmYDkrSAAJsEFkFMwD+7+dhjnpo77HzS7dcqfrbdkZNvYD54m4fBLg+nJXeOpRvzHHvGzCZzpuxmb9szY4MDbMnWPAzJxbi0GEjkmEnzsB1mZpPISbvN2HY4cQMDD1CE4UBiA04t+d+kef5BtBQDtdTPb+D/RkBLDps0bxtIS/oxZqCWBIYDPGx4tUjcSDOTnNsHtoVZsufcM8MNh9mMLecYJOPUwj8j+ZnEm2+Hk+VnpD/88KPsjrx8e/PDG28q7HBqAQEmHgaGZAYGHlBMHgDGKNjBeNQDAeMPBgY7Bgb2BxAto2AUjIJRMArQAABMoVHbpm3iVQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Capital Institute of Physical Education","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"YANJING","middleName":"","lastName":"CHEN","suffix":""},{"id":483610951,"identity":"58e83dee-f026-4d7b-9e4c-f90c6026c9b9","order_by":1,"name":"LINXIAO WU","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Capital Institute of Physical Education","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"LINXIAO","middleName":"","lastName":"WU","suffix":""},{"id":483610952,"identity":"5b71f331-c9f8-4b8f-a50d-ed042ecf0b18","order_by":2,"name":"WANGXIN DING","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Capital Institute of Physical Education","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"WANGXIN","middleName":"","lastName":"DING","suffix":""},{"id":483610953,"identity":"389d52c7-83c3-4a8e-b258-76f187c79d37","order_by":3,"name":"ZHENHE DONG","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Capital Institute of Physical Education","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"ZHENHE","middleName":"","lastName":"DONG","suffix":""},{"id":483610955,"identity":"128d7058-5f70-4987-aad5-8a93a5c20245","order_by":4,"name":"YAN ZHANG","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Capital Institute of Physical Education","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"YAN","middleName":"","lastName":"ZHANG","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-07-02 22:38:12","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7032792/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7032792/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-32092-w","type":"published","date":"2025-12-13T15:58:33+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":98244393,"identity":"2e57e533-ec92-49bf-b424-8c4bdeec9413","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-15 16:14:17","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2910341,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"AManuallydrivenCentrifugalMicrofluidicLAMPPlatformforRapidandVisualDetectionofWaterbornePathogensinAquaticSports.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7032792/v1_covered_3cb946d8-a477-4e4e-b0f1-3f32baec262e.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"A Manually driven Centrifugal Microfluidic-LAMP Platform for Rapid and Visual Detection of Waterborne Pathogens in Aquatic Sports","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7032792/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7032792/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe increasing prevalence of aquatic sports presents significant public health concerns due to the risk of infections from waterborne pathogens. 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