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An electrical engineer is working on devices that can scientifically analyse people's farts in order to diagnose gastrointestinal diseases.

Kourosh Kalantar-Zadeh from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia is working on a swallowable pill sensor and a poo-sniffing jar for the purpose.

The electronic "pill" has a sensor that can identify particular gases in the gut and then beam the information out of the body wirelessly to a receiver - which could be a smartphone - as it carries out its stinky journey.

(Image: Nam Ha)

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

It's looking for quantities of gases different cases created by gut microbes - which include methane, hydrogen, oxygen and hydrogen sulphide. Changes in gases produced by the gut can indicate certain diseases or intestinal conditions.

The smart jar has a sensor embedded in the lid. Researchers place a sample of faeces inside the jar, and then put the lid on. The sensor can then sniff out target gases.

"They're fantastic biomarkers that tell about the state of our health," Kalantar-Zadeh told NPR.

Changes in concentration of gases in people's flatulence have been known to indicate irritable bowel syndrome, but it's not possible to link specific gas concentrations to specific diseases - as the same gases are also produced by "good" bacteria.

The research is in its very early days and so far the devices haven't been rigorously tested.

Kalantar-Zadeh and colleagues are starting to study the links between the make-up of flatulence and the health of the person the sample came from.

"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."

It's not the first time swallowable sensors have been proposed for detecting diseases - Google is working on a smart pill that can detect cancer.