A Breakthrough in Secure Supply Chain

A cyber-physical trust anchor enables authentication of additive manufactured (AM) parts and identification of counterfeit items.

Absolutely Non-Refutable Provenance for AM parts

Leveraging blockchain and non-disruptive processes for cost-effective anti-counterfeiting

Counterfeit parts cause a host of serious business problems for manufacturers. Existing methods of mitigating counterfeiting risk for AM  parts, such as affixing bar codes or embedding diamond crystals, lack flexibility, scalability, and security.  

Refined Imaging offers a revolutionary solution: 

  • Establishes non-refutable provenance for AM parts with blockchain technology  
  • Neither disrupts the manufacturing process nor compromises the integrity of the part 
  • Enables cost effective, easy to adopt and scalable counterfeit detection 

How It Works

Fabricating a trust anchor inside the AM part 

We can embed a cyber-physical trust anchor into a component during the additive manufacturing process that selectively creates porosity which can encode digital information within the part. This unique digital identifier becomes a natural part of the structure and because it is so small and in an innocuous area of the component, it will not affect the integrity of the structure and it is invisible to visual and conventional X-ray inspection. The authentication process works the same, just in reverse. Using X-ray interferometry, the voids/porosity are imaged and the data, as cryptographic hashes, is aggregated into a proof-of-authentication blockchain. Anytime throughout the structure’s lifecycle, the imaging process can be repeated, and the data compared to the blockchain data file and receive a yes/no response for authentication. 

Going Beyond Manufacturing

Refined Imaging is developing numerous applications for grating interferometry.

inferometer
Neutron interferometry raw data showing fringe structure.
Neutron imaging system - AM parts

Healthcare

Paradigm shift for early detection of disease and cancer. 

Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) 

Ability to examine materials without affecting them. 

Agriculture

Repeated imaging of plant root systems for longitudinal studies

Let's Talk!

Want to learn more about how our proprietary anti-counterfeiting technology can power a secure supply chain for your business? Speak with one of our experts.