MELBOURNE, March 13 (UPI) -- Studying gas as it travels through the gut is no easy task. But researchers looking to measure the specifics of intestinal gas have a new secret weapon -- high-tech gas sensing capsules.
The technology offers promising possibilities for diagnosing gastrointestinal-related health problems, like bowel cancer and irritable bowel syndrome. Previous research has connected certain gaseous concoctions with health risks, and scientists say the new capsule could be used to cost-effectively screen for these biomarkers.
"We know gut microorganisms produce gases as a by-product of their metabolism, but we understand very little about how that affects our health," explained lead study author Kourosh Kalantar-zadeh, a researcher and professor at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.
"Being able to accurately measure intestinal gases could accelerate our knowledge about how specific gut microorganisms contribute to gastrointestinal disorders and food intake efficiency, enabling the development of new diagnostic techniques and treatments," said Kalantar-zadeh.
"But these high-tech capsules could also help people work out precisely how particular foods affect their guts."
The capsules have so far only been tested on animals. But they will soon undergo human clinical trials. The device transmits data on gaseous contents to a mobile device as it travels through the intestinal system.
The technology's specifics are detailed in the latest issue of the journal Trends in Biotechnology.
