Blood-inspired random bit generation using microfluidics system.

Area of Science:

• Physics
• Biomedical Engineering
• Computer Science

Background:

• Speckle patterns offer unique statistical properties for generating random numbers.
• Existing random number generators (RNGs) require rigorous validation for reliability.
• Secure encryption key generation necessitates unpredictable and algorithm-independent random number sources.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a blood-inspired random number generator (RNG) system.
• To leverage microfluidics and speckle patterns for high-speed random number generation.
• To validate the randomness and unpredictability of the generated numbers for security applications.

Main Methods:

• A microfluidics device was designed to direct a laser through a volumetric scattering medium (whole blood).
• Speckle patterns were captured from a minimal 5 µl blood sample.
• The two-pass tuple-output von Neumann debiasing algorithm was implemented.
• The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) randomness statistical test suite was used for validation.

Main Results:

• The blood-inspired RNG system achieved a random number generation rate of 5.5 MHz at 1250 fps.
• The generated random numbers successfully passed all NIST statistical randomness tests.
• The system demonstrated effective bias counteraction through the implemented debiasing algorithm.

Conclusions:

• The blood-inspired RNG system provides an affordable and high-output solution for generating truly random numbers.
• This technology offers a promising pathway for applications in encryption, computer security, and data protection.
• The use of whole blood in a microfluidic device presents a novel approach to physical random number generation.