Scientists Create ‘Smart Underwear’ to Monitor Flatulence for Microbiome Research

Move over, Fitbits and Apple Watches, there’s a new wearable in town, and this one is designed to track a metric most of us would rather keep private. Scientists at the University of Maryland have developed so-called “Smart Underwear,” a tiny sensor that clips onto undergarments to count, measure, and analyze wearers’ flatulence with scientific precision. It might sound like a gag gift, but for researchers, this device is a breakthrough tool for decoding the mysteries of the human gut.The device was created to solve a longstanding problem in microbiome research: how to monitor gut bacteria activity in real-time. Currently, researchers rely on stool samples, which only provide a snapshot of the bacteria present, or breath tests, which can be cumbersome and inaccurate.The answer, it turns out, is to go directly to the source.The “Smart Underwear” features a small sensor, about an inch square, that snaps onto regular underwear. It weighs next to nothing and is designed to be worn continuously for up to a week. The sensor detects hydrogen gas, which is produced exclusively by gut bacteria when they ferment fiber and other carbohydrates that human cells cannot digest.“Think of it like a continuous glucose monitor, but for intestinal gas,” writes Brantley Hall, an assistant professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics at UMD and the study’s senior author.In a study published in “Biosensors and Bioelectronics: X,” 19 volunteers wore the device for seven days. The results were surprising. Participants passed gas an average of 32 times per day — more than double the 10 to 20 episodes typically reported in medical literature. The study suggests that humans are either really bad at counting their own flatulence, or simply unaware of how often it happens, particularly while sleeping.The device proved highly accurate, detecting dietary changes with 94.7 percent sensitivity. In a controlled experiment, researchers put 38 participants on a low-fiber diet for two days before feeding them gumdrops containing inulin, a fiber bacteria love to ferment. The sensor picked up a spike in bacterial activity in 36 of the participants, usually three to four hours after consumption.Interestingly, the study also highlighted the power of the placebo effect. About one-third of participants reported gastrointestinal discomfort after eating control gumdrops that contained only regular sugar, despite the device showing minimal bacterial fermentation. This suggests that some perceived food intolerances may be psychological rather than physiological.The research team has now set its sights on a more ambitious project: the Human Flatus Atlas. While doctors have established normal ranges for cholesterol and blood pressure, there is currently no scientific baseline for what constitutes “normal” flatulence.“We don’t actually know what normal flatus production looks like,” Mr. Hall wrote. “Without that baseline, it’s hard to know when someone’s gas production is truly excessive.”The Hall Lab is now recruiting hundreds of participants across the United States to wear the device and help build this database. “We’ve learned a tremendous amount about which microbes live in the gut, but less about what they’re actually doing at any given moment,” Mr. Hall wrote. “The Human Flatus Atlas will establish objective baselines for gut microbial fermentation, which is essential groundwork for evaluating how dietary, probiotic or prebiotic interventions change microbiome activity.”

Scientists Create ‘Smart Underwear’ to Monitor Flatulence for Microbiome Research

Scientists Create ‘Smart Underwear’ to Monitor Flatulence for Microbiome Research

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