Scientists at the University of Maryland have developed a groundbreaking solution to a problem that is often the subject of humor but poses a significant challenge for medical professionals. Their invention, known as Smart Underwear, is a small, wearable device designed to track intestinal gas in real time. By focusing on hydrogen in flatus, the team is reshaping our understanding of how frequently people pass gas and what this reveals about gut health.
For decades, medical professionals have relied on subjective methods to estimate gas production. In 2000, gastroenterologist Michael Levitt highlighted this issue, stating, “It is virtually impossible for the physician to objectively document the existence of excessive gas using currently available tests.” Previous estimates were often based on self-reports or short laboratory tests, both of which are prone to missing events and are ineffective during sleep.
This gap in knowledge prompted assistant professor Brantley Hall and his colleagues to innovate. Their device attaches discreetly to the outside of underwear and operates continuously. “Objective measurement gives us an opportunity to increase scientific rigor in an area that’s been difficult to study,” Hall explained.
What Smart Underwear Reveals
The first study, published in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics, was led by assistant research scientist Santiago Botasini. Nineteen healthy adults participated by wearing the device for a week, yielding results that surprised even the researchers.
On average, participants passed gas 32 times a day, which is about double the 14 daily events often cited in medical literature. Individual results varied, with some logging as few as four events and others up to 59.
The reason for this discrepancy is straightforward: self-reporting is unreliable. People forget, sleep, or are simply unaware of their gas production. Smart Underwear focuses on hydrogen because it is produced exclusively by gut microbes. When bacteria break down indigestible food, they release hydrogen, providing a direct measure of microbial activity. “Think of it like a continuous glucose monitor, but for intestinal gas,” Hall said.
Gas as a Window Into the Microbiome
While gas is often seen as an embarrassing byproduct, in this context it becomes valuable data. Gut microbes operate on a rapid schedule, with activity levels fluctuating within hours after meals. Traditional methods struggle to capture these dynamics.
Breath tests for hydrogen are limited by low levels and brief durations, while stool and blood samples depend on timing and clinic visits. Imaging provides only snapshots, and questionnaires rely on memory.
Hydrogen levels in gas can reach hundreds of thousands of parts per million, making continuous detection more feasible and reliable than other methods.
The Maryland team designed the device for practicality. It attaches to underwear without piercing the fabric, and coin cell batteries allow for about a week of use. The sensors conserve power by remaining dormant until gas levels rise.
Testing Fiber With Candy
To demonstrate the device’s ability to track real changes, the researchers conducted a second study called GUMDROP. Thirty-eight adults followed a low-fiber diet and wore the device on two test days. On one day, they consumed regular gumdrops, and on the other, gumdrops containing inulin, a fiber that reaches the colon intact and feeds microbes.
Smart Underwear detected increased microbial activity on the inulin day in 36 of 38 participants, achieving a 94.7 percent success rate. Activity rose three to four hours after consumption, illustrating the slow fermentation process.
Interestingly, about one-third of participants reported symptoms after consuming regular gumdrops, not the fiber ones, suggesting that subjective feelings do not always align with microbial activity.
Mapping What Is Normal
Unlike metrics such as blood sugar or cholesterol, flatulence lacks an accepted normal range. Hall’s team aims to change this with the Human Flatus Atlas project. The initiative seeks to measure gas patterns in hundreds of adults across the United States, correlating these patterns with diet and stool-based microbiome data.
Early findings indicate three broad categories: some individuals on high-fiber diets produce little gas, termed Zen Digesters; others, called Hydrogen Hyperproducers, generate large amounts; and many fall in between.
“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,” Hall noted. “The Human Flatus Atlas will establish objective baselines for gut microbial fermentation.”
Practical Implications of the Research
This research could transform how doctors and researchers approach digestion. Objective gas tracking may clarify why certain diets affect individuals differently, guiding personalized nutrition and probiotic testing, and advancing studies of digestive disorders.
By measuring microbial activity in real time, scientists can observe how meals, fiber, or new therapies impact the gut throughout the day. For patients who feel dismissed when standard tests return normal results, this data could provide much-needed clarity.
Ultimately, this research treats a common human experience with scientific respect. Gas is no longer just a joke; it is a signal, and now there is a method to interpret it. The research findings are available in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics.
The original story “‘Smart Underwear’ sheds new light on just how often humans pass gas” is published in The Brighter Side of News.
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