Hybrid sol-gel films were used to grow Buffalo Green Monkey kidney cell tissues, which were used for poliovirus-1 detection. It is shown that the sol-gel approach allows cutting the standard EPA procedure from 48 to 24h of detection time; that better visualization of the plaques is obtained; that a variety of stains, including fluorescence, can be used; and that the shelf life of the resulting plaques system is well over a year.