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Researchers Develop 'Smart Underwear' to Track a Wearer's Farts
University of Maryland's snap-in device tracks hydrogen gas to establish normal flatulence patterns, finding adults fart 32 times daily on average with wide individual variation.
- On Feb. 16, University of Maryland researchers led by Brantley Hall unveiled Smart Underwear, a snap-on sensor that records hydrogen in intestinal gas, and launched the Human Flatus Atlas to recruit volunteers.
- Because no objective baseline existed, previously cited averages of about 14 daily farts relied on self-reporting and invasive techniques, and Brantley Hall, PhD, says, `We don't actually know what normal flatus production looks like.`
- In a December proof-of-concept study of 19 adults, the device recorded an average of 32 farts daily, detecting diet-driven hydrogen rises with 94.7 and metabolic spikes with 97.4 accuracy.
- Enrollment surged past expectations — the team planned for about 800 but 3,000 signed up, prompting a pause while about 900 potential candidates receive devices and preliminary results are expected within about a year.
- The project aims to establish baselines that could improve diagnosis and treatments by studying Zen Digesters and Hydrogen Hyperproducers, though the Human Flatus Atlas is limited to U.S. participants.
37 Articles
37 Articles
With a new type of underwear, researchers are trying to find out more about how much we humans actually fart. A pilot study indicates that it's significantly more than we thought.
Researchers in Maryland create Smart Underwear to find out how much you fart
Scientists at the University of Maryland are hoping to clear the air about a topic that’s been, well, a bit of a gas to study. They’ve created what they’re calling “Smart Underwear”—the first wearable device designed to measure human flatulence. You may have caught wind of the fact that they want volunteers from across the […] The post Researchers in Maryland create Smart Underwear to find out how much you fart appeared first on The Georgia Sun.
Maryland scientists create “smart underwear” to measure flatulence and they want volunteers
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (WWAY) — Scientists at the University of Maryland have developed what may be the most unusual wearable health device yet: Smart Underwear, a tiny sensor designed to measure human flatulence. Yes, really. The device is the first wearable technology built to track intestinal gas production by measuring hydrogen in flatus, giving researchers a new way to study gut microbial metabolism in everyday life. Researchers say the inventi…
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