Scientists have created a wearable sensor that attaches to your underwear and tracks your gut bacteria in real time by measuring the hydrogen gas in your flatulence. And no, that’s not a setup for a joke.
Researchers at the University of Maryland developed the device to solve a problem that has plagued microbiome research for years: how to actually monitor whatgut bacteriaare doing hour by hour, not just which species are living in there. The answer, it turns out, involves a tiny sensor clipped near your bottom that passively records data while you go about your day.
In a study of 38 people, published inBiosensors and Bioelectronics: X, the device detected dietary changes with 94.7% accuracy and revealed something surprising about human bodies. Participants passed gas an average of 32 times per day, far more than the 10 to 20 episodes people typically report in studies. Either humans are terrible at counting their own farts, or we’re all walking around in collective denial.
Hydrogen gas is produced exclusively bygut bacteria, not by human cells. When microbes feast on fiber or other carbohydrates we can’t digest ourselves, they pump out hydrogen as waste. That hydrogen then leaves the body through two routes: breath and flatulence.
While breath contains trace amounts of hydrogen, flatulence is loaded with it: hundreds of times more concentrated. Most people harbor hydrogen-producing bacteria from various microbial families that churn out this gas whenever they break down undigested food.
Current tools for studying gut bacteria are frustratingly limited. Stool samples only capture what’s happening when you have a bowel movement. Blood tests show some bacterial byproducts but require frequent needle sticks. Breath tests need hours in a clinic or complicated home protocols that most people struggle to follow correctly.
The SmartUnderwear, as researchers dubbed it, continuously monitors for up to a week on a single set of batteries. The device is about an inch square and weighs next to nothing. It snaps onto regular underwear using a small plastic fastener.
Nineteen volunteers wore the Smart Underwear for seven days straight during normal activities. Post-study surveys found that 95% reported no discomfort. People wore it an average of 11 hours daily, with most keeping it on for at least six days.
But the individual variation was dramatic. Daily gas counts ranged from 4 episodes on the low end to 59 on the high end. That’s a 14-fold difference between people at the extremes, raising questions about whether there’s really such a thing as “normal” when it comes to gut bacteria activity.
To test whether the device could actually detect changes in bacterial metabolism, researchers ran a controlled experiment. They had 38 participantsavoid fiberand other hard-to-digest carbohydrates for two days, essentially putting their gut bacteria on a starvation diet. Then came the gumdrops.
Source: Drudge Report
