Feb. 16 (UPI) -- University of Maryland researchers designed "Smart Underwear" to track and measure flatulence -- and they are seeking volunteers to wear them.
Brantley Hall, an assistant professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, led a team of scientists in creating the small device that snaps into a wearer's underwear and uses electrochemical sensors to track intestinal gas.
Hall said the device specifically records releases of hydrogen.
"Think of it like a continuous glucose monitor, but for intestinal gas," Hall said in a news release.
Santiago Botasini, an assistant research scientist at the school, led a study that found healthy adults produced flatus -- passed gas -- an average of 32 times a day, with individual variations reaching as much as 59 or as low as 4. Their findings were reported in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics: X.
