A team at the University of Maryland has created a small sensor that attaches to underwear and counts how many times a person passes gas during the day.
The device tracks hydrogen levels. Gut bacteria produce hydrogen when they break down food. By measuring that gas, researchers can learn more about how digestion works in real time.
Doctors have long struggled to help patients who complain about too much gas. There was no good way to measure it. Patients could guess, but people forget events and miss gas that happens while asleep.
The new device clips onto regular underwear and runs all day and night. The sensors pick up gas releases as they happen.
The numbers surprised them. People in the study averaged 32 gas releases per day. That is about twice the number found in older studies, which usually put the average around 14 times per day.
There was also a wide range between individuals. Some people passed gas only four times in a day. Others hit as many as 59.
Brantley Hall, a professor who led the research, said without a baseline it is hard to know when someone actually has a problem.
The team is launching a project called the “Human Flatus Atlas,” where they will send devices to hundreds of people across the United States.
The researchers are looking for three kinds of volunteers. First are people who eat a lot of fiber but hardly ever have gas. Second are people who have gas all the time. Third are regular people who fall somewhere in the middle.
Hall and another researcher have filed patents for the technology. They also started a company called Ventoscity.
Sources: Maryland Today | Science Direct