Scientists have developed smart underwear designed to track how often people actually fart, in what researchers say is a first-of-its-kind breakthrough that could reshape how gut health is studied.
The wearable device, which snaps discreetly onto underwear, continuously monitors intestinal gas production by detecting hydrogen released during flatulence. Researchers say the technology offers the first practical, non-invasive way to measure flatus around the clock.
The study, published in Biosensors and Bioelectronics, involved nearly 60 healthy participants and was led by researchers including Brantley Hall from the University of Maryland.
Until now, studies on flatulence have largely relied on self-reporting, which researchers say is unreliable as participants often forget or miscount gas releases. Previous direct measurements used rectal tubes to collect gas, but those methods were uncomfortable and impractical for long-term monitoring.
Smart underwear tracks hydrogen from gut microbes
The new device tracks hydrogen, one of the primary gases released during flatulence. Farts typically contain hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen, with some individuals also producing methane. Because hydrogen is produced exclusively by gut microbes, researchers say measuring it provides a direct signal of microbial fermentation in the digestive system.
“Objective measurement gives us an opportunity to increase scientific rigour in an area that’s been difficult to study,” Hall said.
Nineteen participants wore the smart underwear during daily activities for seven days to test comfort and continuous detection. Researchers reported that participants were able to wear the device for more than 11 hours per day with high adherence.
Another 38 participants took part in a controlled diet experiment to determine whether the device could detect changes in gas production based on food intake.
Overall, researchers found that healthy adults produced flatus an average of 32 times per day. That figure is more than double the 14 daily events commonly cited in medical literature. Individual results varied widely, ranging from four to 59 events per day.
“Think of it like a continuous glucose monitor, but for intestinal gas,” Hall compared.
Researchers say there is currently no established baseline for what constitutes normal flatulence levels, unlike metrics such as blood glucose or cholesterol.
“We don’t actually know what normal flatus production looks like. Without that baseline, it’s hard to know when someone’s gas production is truly excessive,” the researcher remarked.
The team plans to expand the research through a larger project called the Human Flatus Atlas, which will track flatulence patterns in hundreds of participants and correlate findings with diet and microbiome composition.
“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 added. “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.”
This comes just months after a study revealed that smelling your own farts could help fend off Alzheimer’s disease.
