University of Maryland researchers create device to track how often people fart

A team of scientists at the University of Maryland is looking for participants in a study about flatulence. (Credit: WJZ via CNN Newsource)

A team of scientists at the University of Maryland (UMD) is gathering first-of-its-kind data through a device you put on your underwear.

Smart Underwear is able to track whenever a person farts. While it may sound silly, this information could be a big benefit to our health, according to the leading scientist behind the effort.

While the research started at UMD, people around the country are now helping collect this data.

Dr. Brantley Hall’s lab looks more like a factory these days, with multiple 3D printers running at all times.

The machines are working constantly to produce devices about the size of a nickel and it goes on your underwear.

“We thought, maybe we can advance our science by making a new type of wearable device that we can have people wear all day,” said Hall, who teaches in UMD’s cell biology and molecular genetics department.

Hall’s lab studies gut microbial metabolism, the process that causes people to produce flatus, which most people know as farting.

Right now, there is no scientific baseline on what constitutes a healthy amount of passing gas. Hall wants to change that.

“More than one-in-five people report experiencing excess intestinal gas, but right now there’s no objective measure of whether they’re telling the truth or not,” Hall said. “We obviously have physiological baselines for most measures, like blood glucose or cholesterol, but without one for flatus, it’s very hard to say when someone has excess flatus or not.”

Initially, Hall and his team conducted a smaller study with mostly UMD undergrad students.

Now, they’re going bigger, launching the Human Flatus Atlas. This is a national study where anyone in the country can participate.

When you sign up, a Smart Underwear device is sent to your home. You’ll have to wear the device for three days in a row.

Hall said they are looking for people across the spectrum to participate, including:

Those with high fiber diets who don’t fart a lot, which he calls Zen Digesters those who do fart a lot, which he calls Hydrogen Hyperproducers or anyone else in between.

“Our current maximum number [of farts] is about 175 times per day, and our current minimum number is four times per day. That’s a huge variation between people,” Hall said.

All Hall is really aiming to do is figure out something about our gut and to create a new healthy standard.

“We’re trying to understand how different fibers affect gas production and how people can eat a healthy, high-fiber diet without experiencing excess intestinal gas,” he said. “We need to go beyond patient perception and measure objectively. We’re in the unknown here, and it’s always an extremely exciting place to be.”

Hall is hoping to have results by the summer.