In-sensor cryptographic signature generation to link a physical process and an immutable digital entity

Data forgery and manipulation can undermine trust in areas ranging from science to journalism. Artificial intelligence will probably exacerbate this problem, degrading our ability to distinguish between artificially created data and real recordings (such as those taken with a video camera). Here we report a recording device technology that establishes a cryptographic link between a physical process (the act of recording) and an immutable digital entity (such as an entry in a public blockchain). Our approach relies on a monolithic cryptographic sensor that integrates a sensor device with a hashing unit (that continuously hashes pieces of recorded data) and a cryptographic signature unit (that signs the hashes using a public key encryption scheme). The system then uploads the signed hashes to a trusted public repository. We provide a proof-of-concept implementation with a voltage sensor for extracellular recording of cardiac myocyte field potentials that is fabricated using 180-nm complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor technology.