Probe_care

Warning: It is not recommended to sonicate the probe shank, this can damage it! Similarly, don't blow dry the probe .e.g with compressed air

General cleaning

It's best to use fresh solutions since dust particles on the liquid surface may irreversible attach to the shank surface when immersed or rinsed with these solutions.

DiH20

Probe shanks should be rinsed with deionized water as soon after removing from brain/solution as possible, i.e. before saline solution has had a chance to dry and deposit crystals on the recording sites. The crystals will impair recording quality, though any effect of these for the next recording should be transient, as the crystals will re-dissolve. After rinsing, soaking in deionized water is optimal, this can be done overnight.

1% tergazyme

The probe shank can also be soaked in a 1% tergazyme solution to clean biological material (some have had success in particular with using a warm solution, see the slack thread here). Beware to not leave the probe too long in tergazyme, as the tergazyme can evaporate and leave protein aggregates clumped up on the probe, which may be difficult to remove. After soaking in tergazyme, it should be rinsed with deionized water and ideally left to soak more than an hour in deionized water. You can also dip the probe in isopropylalcohol after rinsing with deionized water to clean it.

Hard boiled-egg

Shoup et al., 2024 describe using a hard-boiled egg to clean off the probe.

Epoxy protection

It is recommended to cover the "backside components" of the probe with epoxy, particularly if there is any chance of them coming into contact with saline. The formation of crystals on these components, or any corrosion, could break the probe.

Cleaning Silicone gel/vaseline off

Letting the probe sit in DS-2025 for 18-24 hours, followed by a 10-minute soak in DI water has been helpful for some people. See this slack thread.

List of approved solutions

From IMEC, the following solutions have been tested on and are safe to use with Neuropixel probes:

• Deionized water at room temperature
• Iso-propyl alcohol
• Phosphate buffered saline (PBS) at a pH of 7.4
• 25 mM MOPS (3-(N-morpholino)propanesulfonic acid) in 150 mM NaCl, DI water, pH adjusted w/ NaOH and HCl
• 100 mM MES (2-ethanesulfonic acid) in 150 mM NaCl, DI water, pH adjusted w/ NaOH and HCl
• 1% Tergazyme