How to clean the filters, lenses and CMOS sensor?

[Jesper.vernooij]

Hi everyone,

I'm having some issues getting the filters and lenses clean. They seem to a little bit dirty out of the box and whatever I do to clean them, I only seem to make matters worse. Does anyone have a simple cleaning method that does the job?

Thank you,

Jesper

[Daniel Aharoni]

Hi Jesper,
Generally a small amount of dust on the filters shouldn't be too noticeable when imaging and we usually try to avoid touching the coated surface of the filters as much as possible. Crud on the CMOS sensor or on the bottom of the GRIN lens causes the largest artifacts followed by stuff on the inner achromatic lens and top of the GRIN lens. Tristan can speak more on this topic but I think we usually use filter paper (or even Kimwipes) with a little alcohol to clean these surfaces. Make sure the bottom GRIN lens surface is as clean as possible before implantation and make sure the top is cleaned at the end of surgery before putting a protective layer of silicone over it (doing this under a stereoscope is helpful). I think some in our lab hold use forceps to apply a bit of pressure through the filter paper.

[Keiland]

I can attest to the Kimwipe's. If I absolutely have to touch the lenses, I cut small squares of Kimwipe, dip them in alcohol, and use forceps to gently clean the lenses.