disinfect electrodes

Expert Advice: Electrodes EEG Signals

What is the best way to clean gold cup electrodes so that they are cleaned appropriately and last as long as possible?

Hard to answer which is the “best” method because as long as the electrode gets cleaned and disinfected, mission accomplished. But as long as you are following proper procedures to clean and disinfect, any strategy can be “the best."

Tips to keep your gold leads working like new as long as possible:

Use caution with the connection point where the electrode cup attaches to the lead wire. This connection is typically crimped or soldered and can be at risk for breakage. This is a big issue for labs who don’t recognize the nature of that connection. So, if you hang your electrodes before or after cleaning, be sure that connection point is not being bent or stressed.
Be attentive to how your head box is positioned and what the positioning of that head box does to the connection points of your electrodes.
Clean your gold cups with a standard cleaning detergent (any type that your facility recommends) to remove paste and debris. Be careful using a toothbrush to scrub the electrode to avoid scrubbing too aggressively and deteriorating the gold plating on the outside of the cup.
After cleaning with detergent (and you may choose to use a disinfecting wipe such as a CaviWipes on the lead wire), use any of the commercially available disinfecting products such as Cidex, Sanizide, Metricide, and others according to their directions.

Beyond the suggestions above, it is difficult to say what will preserve the life of your electrode longer. If you are experiencing electrodes that are not lasting as long as you would expect, you can contact your vendor and ask about warranty of the electrodes and if needed contact other manufacturers of electrodes to compare products. It is not an issue to mix and match electrodes from various manufacturers. My suggestion though is to keep the metal and style the same. For instance, if you use gold casted electrodes from one vendor then be sure to ask for gold casted electrodes from the other vendor. But there should be no problem using them on the same patient as long as the paste is the same. But it will provide a direct comparison to see if one type works better for you than another.

Sometimes life of the product is also simply differences between testing techniques. For instance, if you use collodion versus a paste to secure your leads; or the type of conductive paste you use; or how long you leave paste in an electrode before it’s cleaned, etc.