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OpenAI Fund co-leads cancer brain-computer interface investment: reads tumor electrical signals and attempts to inhibit growth with electrical stimulation
Beating AI Breaking News: U.S. neurotechnology company Coherence Neuro has completed 45000000 USD Series A financing, co-led by OpenAI Startup Fund and Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, with Lux Capital、8VC and others participating in the investment.
Unlike Neuralink, which primarily helps paralyzed patients control devices, Coherence aims to use a brain-computer interface to directly monitor cancer and even inhibit tumor growth through electrical stimulation.
Its technical premise is that brain tumors do not grow solely within tissue; they also exchange electrical signals with surrounding neurons and alter brain electrical activity. Coherence is developing an implantable device called SOMA, which continuously reads these signals through electrodes and then uses AI to assess tumor changes and adjust electrical stimulation protocols.
The complete system includes a coin-sized brain implant, a behind-the-ear power device, and a mobile app. The ultimate goal is to enable patients to receive around-the-clock monitoring and personalized treatment at home, rather than relying entirely on periodic scans to understand their condition.
Research published by the team this year July shows that long-term recording of brain electrical activity in mice with cancer can predict tumor growth rates over approximately 5 weeks. This year June, the team also initiated human trials at Royal Melbourne Hospital in Australia. The first patients received approximately 30 minutes of temporary electrode testing only during brain tumor resection surgery. It is currently advancing recording and stimulation testing in another 7 patients.
Electric field therapy for cancer is not an entirely new concept. The U.S.FDA has long approved the external electric field therapy device Optune for certain patients with glioblastoma. Coherence aims to further integrate monitoring and treatment into an implant, using real-time data to continuously adjust interventions.
The new financing will support its first long-term human implant trial and advance preclinical research into other cancers, including pancreatic cancer.
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