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The purpose of this article is to describe a new cleaning procedure for thoroughly cleaning WPI flowcells, including Liquid Waveguide Capillary Cells (LWCCs), UltraPath flowcells and optical cuvettes.

The image (right) shows a 3000 series LWCC with a MiniStar pump and the LWCC injection system placed on top of it.

Preparation of Chemicals

All chemical reagents should be of at least ACS-Grade, preferably HPLC-Grade. This procedure involves the use of caustic and flammable reagents. Consult the manufacturer’s MSDS for necessary safety precautions.

Cleaning Solution #1:

0.5M Potassium Hydroxide in 100% Ethanol (e.g.: 7 g KOH in 250mL EtOH). After thoroughly mixing, filter the solution through a 20µm pore size filter.

Cleaning Solution #2:

100% Methanol, HPLC grade

Cleaning Solution #3:

Ultrapure water, Type I per ASTM D1193-99 or equivalent...more

The proper care and handling of your valuable surgical instruments will improve their longevity and function. Choose a protocol appropriate for your environment from the cleaning techniques below. See the videos here.

RINSING

Immediately after use, rinse instruments under warm or cool running water to remove all blood, body fluids and tissue. Dried soils may damage the instrument surface and make cleaning very difficult. Do not use hot water as this will coagulate proteinous substances.

CLEANING TECHNIQUES

Time, temperature, and agitation play important roles in the cleaning process.

Time — the efficiency of cleaning chemicals is often time dependant

Temperature — higher temperature cleaning solutions result in better cleaning...more

Ultrasonic cleaning is the most effective cleaning method for maintaining your surgical instruments, because of its cavitation. Vibrating sound waves create micron-size bubbles in solution that grow as the pressure in the unit changes. Eventually the bubbles implode. The bursting bubbles effectively dislodge debris, even in the most difficult to reach places. Use of ultrasonic detergent greatly improves the effectiveness of the cleaner, because it increases the number of tiny bubbles

1. Immediately after use, rinse instruments under warm or cool running water to...more

The proper care and handling of surgical instruments is the simplest way to protect your investment and add years to the life of your instruments. Here is a handy infographics showing the steps for proper surgical instrument cleaning.

When you are cleaning instruments manually, here a few quick tips:

• Use stiff plastic cleaning brushes.
• Do NOT use steel wool or wire brushes. 
• Use only neutral pH detergents. 

Take special care when...more

Cleaning laboratory syringes helps prevent contamination and ensures accurate dosing. You should always adhere to the protocols of your institution and the manufacturer of your syringe. Specific cleaning requirements may vary based on the intended use of the syringe, its material composition , and the sample fluid introduced. Here is a typical protocol for cleaning a laboratory syringe...more

When it comes to sterilizing lab forceps, it is crucial to follow proper protocols to maintain a sterile environment and prevent cross-contamination. Like other surgical instruments, laboratory forceps may be sterilized by autoclaving, dry heat, or a chemical sterilant. However, forceps are uniquely designed for many specific functions, and a few pointers here can ensure you get the best results.

NOTE: Always follow the manufacturer's instructions and best practices to ensure effective sterilization and maintenance of your lab forceps...more

Prior to sterilizing surgical instruments, it is a good idea to make sure you have cleaned them to remove blood, tissue and all other organic material.  If soiled materials dries or is baked onto the instruments, it will interfere with microbial inaction and can compromise the sterilization process.

Cleaning is the removal of foreign material (e.g., soil and organic material) from objects and is normally accomplished using water with detergents or enzymatic products.

The most common type of mechanical automatic cleaner is the ultrasonic cleaner. Ultrasonic cleaners are used in conjunction with detergents and enzymatic cleaners.  Ultrasonic cleaning removes particulates by cavitation (bubbles) and implosion. Waves of acoustic energy are transmitted in aqueous solutions and disrupt the bonds that hold particulate matter to surfaces.

When selecting...more

In this video, you can see how to mechanically clean surgical instruments using an ultrasonic cleaner. This video is loaded with tips. This video is the third in a series of four to discuss some best practices in caring for your surgical instrument investment.

Although stainless steel is corrosion-resistant, it can still rust and stain if it is handled improperly. To determine if a discoloration is rust or just a stain, erase the discoloration with a pencil eraser. If there is pitting in the metal under the discoloration, it is corrosion. If the discoloration is removed, it was just a stain. 

• A High pH can cause a brown or orange stain on surgical instruments.
• If a stain is dark brown, the stainless steel surgical instruments have likely been exposed to a Low pH solution.
• A...more

The EndOhm series of chambers, when used with WPI’s EVOM2 resistance meter or the Millicell ERS, are designed to provide reproducible and accurate resistance measurements of endothelial tissue in culture cups. Resistance values obtained with the EndOhm are consistent with those obtained using a well-designed Ussing Chamber.

If an EndOhm is properly cared for, it will enjoy a much longer life. In this article, we will examine how often and what method should be used for cleaning an EndOhm electrode. 

How Do I Clean the EndOhm?

With use, the electrode surface can become...more

What's the difference between cleaning, disinfecting and sterilizing? Let's take a look. This is the first in a series of four videos to discuss some best practices in caring for your surgical instrument investment.

This article shows you how to appropriately care for your surgical insturments to ensure long lasting, highly functioning tools for your application...more

In this video, you can see how to manually clean surgical instruments. It is loaded with tips. This video is the second in a series of four to discuss some best practices in caring for your surgical instrument investment. 

Transepithelial/transendothelial electrical resistance (TEER) measurement is one of the most used practices to evaluate cellular health, such as cellular confluence, barrier integrity, or barrier function of cellular monolayers grown onto multiwells. The TEER measurement using WPI’s Epithelial Voltohmmeter (EVOM) is considered the gold standard because of its reliable measurements and numerous literature citations using various cell types. The EVOM™ Manual and EVOM™ Auto along with different choices of electrodes (STX4, STX HTS high throughput screening, EndOhm chambers, and multielectrode array for EVOM™ Auto) allow researchers to perform and analyze cell samples in 6, 12, and 24 removable inserts and 24 and 96 HTS multiwell plate formats. The major challenges researchers may encounter while performing studies to capture TEER measurement include:
·      Unstable read outs
·      Out of range values 
·      Inconsistent measurements...more

WPI offers alkaline cleaners for the pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device, healthcare, precision engineering, and other sectors.