The team have just published that research in a paper entitled "Colonic fermentation - More than meets the nose" in the journal Med Hypotheses. The research team are now exploring funding options that would allow them to take this new technique into a larger scale studies including clinical trials.

Dr Mark Pharaoh said: "These early results suggest that we could indeed use this automotive technology to give medical consultants  a very  precise understanding of the mix of gasses being produced within the human gut.  An understanding of the precise mix of gasses is a very valuable clue to understanding any problem with the balance and mix of  bacteria that are generating those gases."

Dr Ramesh P Arasaradnam said: "This is could be a vital new tool in the diagnosis of gastrointestinal as well as metabolic diseases. Gaining first hand information of what is going on in the gut would require very invasive procedures. Even simply culturing the bacteria from a patient's urine or faeces takes a considerable amount of time.  This technique could give medical consultants such as myself valuable information about what is causing a patient's condition long before the data from a standard bacterial culture would be available."

The research team are now exploring funding options that would allow them to take this new technique into a clinical trial.

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