Scientists believe the gases in our body can reveal a range of diseases such as colon cancer and irritable bowel syndrome.

But attempting to ‘scientifically analyse people’s farts’ – either by using a breathalyser or looking at feces – can prove tricky.

Now one engineer claims he has come up with two methods to do this that are far more effective; fecal fermentation and gas-sensing capsules.

Fecal fermentation involves incubating feces in conditions similar to those found in the large intestine.

To do this scientists place a spoonful of feces in a jar, and place a lid on it.

The lid contains a sensor that detects the molecules of gas fuming inside the container.
Electrical engineer Kourosh Kalantar-Zadeh described the jars inside his laboratory ‘fecal inocula.’

His team are using the jars to see if there is a link between gas and human health. ‘One of the samples is actually myself,’ he told NPR. ‘The results are amazing.’

Professor Kalantar-zadeh’s team at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia have also developed a more direct method using gas sensing capsules.

The technology, they say, could provide an unparalleled insight into the gases’ inside the body and their possible link to diseases.

These capsules can send data from inside the gut direct to a mobile phone.

The 10mm long gas-monitoring capsules, predicted by Professor Kalantar-zadeh to cost less than $10 (£6.70) each, look like pills that patients can swallow.

The technology, they say, could provide an unparalleled insight into the gases inside the body and their possible link to diseases.

The capsules measure the concentration of selected intestinal gases using a built-in gas sensor, microprocessor and wireless high-frequency transmitter, before passing out of the body.

Professor Kalantar-zadeh said current non-invasive methods of measuring intestinal gas, such as breath testing, were unreliable.

‘We know gut microorganisms produce gases as a by-product of their metabolism, but we understand very little about how that affects our health,’ he said.

‘Being able to accurately measure intestinal gases could accelerate our knowledge about how specific gut microorganisms contribute to gastrointestinal disorders and food intake efficiency

‘These high-tech capsules could also help people work out precisely how particular foods affect their guts,’ he added.

Written by Ellie Zolfagharifard for the Daily Mail March 12, 2015.

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