Disinfection of EEG caps and cleaning of electrodes

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LRomero
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Aug 12, 2010 10:49 pm
Location: Albuquerque, NM

Disinfection of EEG caps and cleaning of electrodes

Post by LRomero »

Hi. I am surprised to see that disinfection is not discussed. If one were to disinfect a cap (due to the bacterial odor present that rinsing in water or Haemosol detergent does not treat) what is recommended?

Also, I have contradicting opinions about how to clean the electrodes. One user says to rinse in warm tap water, while another says to never use tap water due to rust. Besides the manual input, does anyone have any other input on this from experience of use?
Thanks.

Robbie303
Posts: 27
Joined: Mon Nov 03, 2003 10:03 pm
Location: Amsterdam

Post by Robbie303 »

Caps can be cleaned with warm or hot water. If necessary, you can use some shampoo. The caps are not really sensitive for cleaning materials. Just let them soak in warm water, this will make the cleaning process easier/faster.

Electrodes can be rinsed with tap water without any risk. As long as the electrodes do not touch metals, it is OK. The hotter the water, the more easy the gel will dissolve quickly. As long as your hands can take the heat, it's OK. Using warm water will remove the gel quicker and thus less cleaning movements have to be made. Best is to only rinse the electrodes, and not brush. Brushing only causes more stress on the wires, which will make your electrode sets last shorter. Brushing and bending/kinking causes stress on the wires, which will shorten the life of the sets.

jasnam
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2008 3:57 pm
Location: UK

Re: Disinfection of EEG caps and cleaning of electrodes

Post by jasnam »

I didn't want to start a new topic as my question fits pretty well here:

when i learned how to use the Biosemi system back in 2004, we were told to wash the electrodes in hot water only using our fingers to get the gel out, so as not to scrape off any AgAgCl and kink/break electrodes off their wiring.

do these instructions remain the same for the new electrode sets which have the red individual electrode holders and are thus more robust? i ask as we have a new postdoc in one of the labs who has introduced the use of the toothbrush in cleaning the electrodes and i just wanted to doublecheck here if this is indeed now fine. related to this - is there an updated manual? i had a look around the website but couldn't see it, but i could have just missed it as there's so much content on the site.

thanks in advance
jasna

Robbie303
Posts: 27
Joined: Mon Nov 03, 2003 10:03 pm
Location: Amsterdam

Re: Disinfection of EEG caps and cleaning of electrodes

Post by Robbie303 »

Dear Jasna,

Electrode sets with Red Rubber strain relief can be cleaned and handled exactly the same way as the older electrode sets without the Red Rubber.

jasnam
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2008 3:57 pm
Location: UK

Re: Disinfection of EEG caps and cleaning of electrodes

Post by jasnam »

Thanks Robbie!

So just to be clear - it is not ok to brush them with a gentle toothbrush when cleaning them?

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