Scientists from the US University of Maryland (UMD) came up with an idea that sounds like a recession, but it is serious scientific research: they developed “smart” sensor with electrochemical elements monitoring intestinal gases. The 29 x 29 x 10 millimeter device, powered by two button batteries, clips on to the outside of the underwear.
The device then continuously measures the concentration of hydrogen, i.e. a gas produced exclusively by the activity of intestinal bacteria. According to the authors, this is a reliable indicator of how intensively the microbiome is currently fermenting undigested food residues.
Wide spread from 4 to 59 gas leaks per day
In a pilot study, nineteen healthy volunteers wore the monitor for one week. The results yielded some surprising findings: study participants let out wind an average of 32 times a day. This is more than twice the amount that people usually admit in questionnaires or medical studies (14 ± 6 per day). It turns out that the human ability to realistically estimate the frequency of one’s own winds is poor, or we live in a collective self-delusion.
Wind detection using a sensor
The variance was enormous – measured daily values ranged from four to a respectable 59 episodes per day. So it seems that either we calculate very inaccurately, or we have simply become so used to some manifestations of our own body that we stop registering them.
In another part of the research with thirty-eight people, the sensor detected with a sensitivity of 94.7% whether the volunteers ate plain gelatin candies or identical-looking gummy bears with inulin fiber. The first signs of fermentation appeared after approximately three to four hourswhen the food reached the bacteria. Interestingly, about a third of the participants complained of indigestion after the regular sugar candies, even though the device showed no significant fermentation.
Volunteers are wanted for the Atlas of Human Winds
Why are scientists even concerned with something so banal? Hydrogen is not produced in human cells, but exclusively during the bacterial fermentation of undigested carbohydrates, which our enzymes cannot break down. Its continuous measurement thus provides an indirect but very accurate picture of the metabolic activity of the intestinal microbiome. Compared to breath tests or stool analysis, the new device makes it possible to monitor changes practically in real time even during a normal day, not just in the doctor’s office.
Currently, the UMD scientific team is compiling the so-called “Human Flatus Atlas”which aims to establish objective standards for intestinal gases, similar to how there are tables for cholesterol. They are therefore looking for hundreds of volunteers. If you live in the US and want to contribute to science, you can join the project and find out if your digestion is normal.
date:2026-02-15 06:43:00