My lab often finds itself in a situation where we take short recordings from participants with as little as maybe a five minute turnaround time. I would just like to clarify:
Whether the best solution is to use the same electrode set without washing off the gel?
Or is it to use the a set that has been cleaned but only patted dry with a towel?
Would water on the electrodes affect the recordings?
Thanks
Using electrodes when wet
Re: Using electrodes when wet
You can actually just re-use the electrodes without washing.
Washing an electrode set while there is still gel on the electrodes, can result in a 'wattery' layer which worsens contact with the skin or with a second layer of gel. In other words: the water makes the surface of the gel very slippery.
If there is no need to wash the electrodes, then simply reuse then without washing/rinsing.
On the other hand, not cleaning the set, can result in gel all over the place, and there might even get gel inside the SCSI connector.
Anyway, I don't think you will notice much difference in signal quality between sets which are simply used two times in a row and with sets which have been washed/rinsed between the measurements. The BioSemi is giving me always perfect signals, even in de toughest conditions.
Washing an electrode set while there is still gel on the electrodes, can result in a 'wattery' layer which worsens contact with the skin or with a second layer of gel. In other words: the water makes the surface of the gel very slippery.
If there is no need to wash the electrodes, then simply reuse then without washing/rinsing.
On the other hand, not cleaning the set, can result in gel all over the place, and there might even get gel inside the SCSI connector.
Anyway, I don't think you will notice much difference in signal quality between sets which are simply used two times in a row and with sets which have been washed/rinsed between the measurements. The BioSemi is giving me always perfect signals, even in de toughest conditions.