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Cancer Neurotechnology Lab

● Cancer Neurotechnology Lab · Imperial College London

Measuring the living tumour–brain interface

Brain tumours grow inside active neural tissue. We build neural interfaces and combine electrophysiology, electrochemistry, impedance, spectroscopy and computation to study how tumour and brain influence one another, and how that interaction can be measured in ways that matter.

Explore our researchWork with us
  • Cancer neurotechnology
  • Neural interfacing
  • Brain–computer interfaces
  • Neuromorphic BCI
  • Translational neurotechnology

[01] The question

What can living tissue tell us at the point of measurement?

Anatomical imaging and molecular analysis give essential views of brain tumours. On their own, they do not describe every aspect of how tissue functions as it changes in space and time.

We study electrical and physicochemical signals across the tumour core, its boundary, infiltrated tissue and the surrounding brain. We want to know which measurements are reproducible, how signals from different physical domains relate to one another, and whether together they add useful functional information to established approaches.

[02] Research

Five lines of enquiry

  1. 01

    The electrophysiology of glioma

    We investigate how gliomas and their local environment are associated with changes in neuronal and tissue-level activity, how these changes vary across spatial regions and experimental contexts, and which features can be measured consistently.

    Active research

  2. 02

    Multimodal tissue measurement

    No single signal provides a complete description of living tissue. We combine electrical recording with electrochemical, impedance, optical and spectroscopic measurements, then use computational analysis to examine how they relate.

    Active research

  3. 03

    Neural interfaces

    Our technical foundation is the development of small, scalable interfaces for recording from and stimulating the nervous system while limiting disruption to the tissue being studied. Published work includes jULIEs and CHIME, developed with collaborators.

    Peer-reviewed foundations

  4. 04

    Translation by stages

    We develop research platforms with clinical context in mind: practical measurement, study design, quality systems, patient and public involvement and regulatory planning. Applications in functional mapping, longitudinal monitoring and therapeutic neurotechnology remain research directions.

    Long-term direction

  5. 05

    Neuromorphic and non-von Neumann systems

    We explore computation and hardware that process neural signals closer to where they are generated: asynchronously, locally and at low power. The question is where such architectures offer a measurable advantage over conventional computing for a defined neurotechnology task.

    Research direction seeking partners
  6. Read the research programme →

[03] Current platform

GRAIL

Global Resonance Assessment & Incision Locator

Active research and translational development

GRAIL is a multimodal intraoperative research platform in development. It is designed to bring electrical and electrochemical measurements together with impedance, Raman spectroscopy and other optical or physicochemical modalities in the same neurosurgical setting.

The central research question is whether these measurements, considered together, can give a more informative account of tissue state and functional risk during brain-tumour surgery. Its clinical value remains to be established through appropriately designed studies.

Explore the technology →

[04] Articles

Our research, explained

Illustrated long reads on each paper and patent: the question, what was done, what was found and what it does not yet show, with the original figures and every source linked.
All articles →
Panels showing how jULIE fibres are drawn from molten glass and metal, a fibre beside a human hair, sharpened tips and assembled multi-fibre probes.

Paper · Journal of Neural Engineering · 2022

Listening to neurons without crowding them out

How glass-coated metal fibres finer than a human hair can record from, and stimulate, single brain cells while leaving the tissue around them largely undisturbed.

14 October 2026 · 12 min read →

[05] Patents

Granted inventions

A patent documents an invention. It is not, on its own, evidence of clinical performance or adoption.
All patents →
US 11,318,299 B2Granted 3 May 2022

Visual implant

An array of micro-electrodes with nanostructured tips, driven by an integrated circuit that controls patterns of stimulation current.

Romeo-Robert Rácz, Gabriella Rácz, Andreas Schaefer

US 10,768,139 B2Granted 8 September 2020

Electrochemical probe

A bundle of fine insulated wire electrodes whose tips carry an impedance-reducing nanostructure layer and a functionalisation layer, for electrochemical sensing.

Romeo-Robert Rácz, Mihaly Kollo, Andreas Schaefer

[06] Support & programmes

Supported by, and built between, institutions

Past and present programme support, translational accelerators and research environments. Taking part in a programme is not product endorsement or clinical validation.

Collaborate

Have a complementary question or method?

We welcome conversations across cancer neuroscience, neural engineering, surgery, sensing, spatial biology and computation.

Work with usr.racz@imperial.ac.uk

The Cancer Neurotechnology Lab is led by Dr Romeo R. Rácz, Advanced Research Fellow in the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London. The laboratory is supported by the Brain Tumour Research Campaign as a dedicated translational research programme.