Multichannel Systems MEA Manual - Manual (Page 59)

Troubleshooting
59
MEA is defective
MEAs wear out after multiple uses or over a longer time of use, for example for long-term cultures.
This is considered a normal behavior. MEAs are also easily damaged by mishandling, for example
if wrong cleaning solutions or too severe cleaning methods are used or if the recording area is touched.
If you observe a bad long-term performance of MEAs, consider a more careful handling.
Possible causes:
? The contact pads are contaminated.
 Clean the contact pads carefully with a swab or a soft tissue and pure (100 %) alcohol.
? The contact pads or the electrodes are irreversibly damaged. You could have a look at the electrodes
under a microscope: If they appear shiny golden, the titanium nitride is gone and the electrode is
irreversibly damaged. Electrodes may be damaged without changing their visual appearance, though.
 Pick one of the bad channels after the other and ground it. See the MEA amplifier's manual for more
information on grounding channels. In most cases, only one of the electrodes that appear bad is actually
defective, and the other ones are only affected by the single defective electrode. Ground as many
electrodes as you need for a good general performance.
In the following example, all defective electrodes have been grounded.
Grounded electrodes show a noise level that is lower than that of good electrodes.
 If too many electrodes are defective, use a new MEA.
Contact pin is defective
Please see the manual for the respective MEA amplifier.