UIC Distinguished Professor Alexander Yarin named Inventor of the Year
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Richard and Loan Hill Professor UIC Distinguished Professor Alexander Yarin has been named the Inventor of the Year by the University of Illinois Chicago Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and the Office of Technology Management.
Yarin received the award for an invention called VivaDent Aerosol Reduction Gel, which has been licensed to the company Ivoclar. The gel is used in dental procedures and is being marketed in Europe and the United States.
“I feel good that this product went to market and is used in dentistry around the world,” Yarin said.
VivaDent Gel was developed during the COVID-19 lockdown, when the UIC College of Dentistry turned to UIC’s College of Engineering for help improving ventilation and capturing droplets created by the Cavitrons, a dental ultrasonic scaler used for plaque, stain, and heavy calculus removal, and dental drills. These devices can aerosolize and project the irrigation liquid (water) mixed with saliva as droplets into the air.
These droplets carry bacteria and viruses and transmit diseases – including COVID-19 – to other patients and health providers. Moreover, many droplets below 20 microns in size evaporate before settling, which causes the formation of airborne viruses that cannot be caught by a regular mask.
Yarin suggested a new way to completely suppress the aerosolization of irrigation liquid and saliva.
While many laboratories were closed during the pandemic, Yarin’s proposal was immediately accepted, and the research was deemed essential. He was granted a special permit to keep his Multiscale Mechanics and Nanotechnology Laboratory open and work on COVID-related research during the lockdown with three of his PhD students.
His idea was to modify a little bit of the irrigation water by adding a minuscule amount of any FDA-approved polymer, which makes the irrigation liquid a dilute polymer solution. “That will eliminate aerosolization and droplet formation completely without affecting pumping inside the dental chair,” Yarin said. “Such a solution could be pumped through the dental chair as easily as water because it possesses a low shear viscosity. However, it develops dramatically high elongational viscosity of viscoelastic origin in stretching, which accompanies droplet detachment. It prevents detachment of droplet tails from the main body of the irrigation fluid.”
Yarin and a team of UIC researchers conducted experiments that proved the concept. They discovered that when droplets try to detach from a liquid body, the droplet’s tail is stretched. That is where the significant elastic stresses in dilute polymer solutions come into play. They suppress tail elongation and pull the droplet back, completely preventing aerosolization and the spread of airborne viruses, creating a safer space for dentists and patients.
Within a month of working by Zoom, UIC filed a provisional patent for this invention, and it was immediately licensed to Ivoclar in Liechtenstein, a leading dental supplier worldwide.
Dentists reported that eliminating aerosols provided better cleaning of the teeth, and the dental mirror remained mostly clean during dental procedures. In addition, it appeared that some patients especially liked it for an unexpected reason: it completely protects makeup.
“From my own experience, I look forward to not having my glasses get wet or water running down my neck onto my shirt,” Yarin said. “My dentist already uses VivaDent Aerosol Reduction Gel and is very happy with the results. He recommended it to several of his colleagues.”
Yarin is also deeply interested in developing additional applications for the aerosol reduction gel for skin and bone surgery, as well as for multiple engineering applications. He believes that these efforts could significantly expand the product’s market and further facilitate its commercialization.