In this invited feature article, the invention of pressurized gyration in 2013 and its subsequent development into sister processes such as pressurized melt gyration, infusion gyration, and pressure‐coupled infusion gyration is elucidated. The fundamentals of these processes are discussed, elucidating how these novel methods can be used to facilitate mass production of polymeric fibers and other morphologies. The effects of the main system parameters: rotational speed and gas pressure, are discussed along with the influence of solution parameters such as viscosity and polymer chain entanglement. The effect of flow of material into the gyrator in infused gyration is also illustrated. Examples of many polymers that have been subjected to these processes are discussed and the applications of resulting products are illustrated under several different research themes such as, tissue engineering, drug delivery, diagnostics, hydrogels, filtration, and wound healing.

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is cellulose produced by a few limited species of bacteria in given conditions. BC has many remarkable properties such as its high mechanical properties, water uptake ability and biocompatibility which makes it a very desirable material to be used for wound healing. Inherently due to these important properties, the material is very resistant to easy processing and thus difficult to produce into useful entities. Additionally, being rate limited by the dependency on bacterial production, high yield is difficult to obtain and thus secondary material processing is sought after. In this review, BC is explained in terms of synthesis, structure and properties. These beneficial properties are directly related to the material's great potential in wound healing where it has also been trialled commercially but ultimately failed due to processing issues. However, more recently there has been increased frequency in scientific work relating to BC processing into hybrid polymeric fibres using common laboratory fibre forming techniques such as electrospinning and pressurised gyration. This paper summarises current progress in BC fibre manufacturing, its downfalls and also gives a future perspective on how the landscape should change to allow BC to be utilised in wound care in the current environment.

Polymeric fibers are prepared by using electric field driven fiber production technology—electrospinning and pressure driven fiber production technology—pressurized gyration. Fibers of four different polymers: polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), poly(methyl methacrylate (PMMA), poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide), and polyvinylpyridine (PVP), are spun by both techniques and differences are analyzed for their suitability as drug carriers. The diameters of electrospun fibers are larger in some cases (PVDF and PMMA), producing fibers with lower surface area. Pressurized gyration allows for a higher rate of fiber production. Additionally, drug‐loaded PVP fibers are prepared by using two poorly water‐soluble drugs (Amphotericin B and Itraconazole). In vitro dissolution studies show differences in release rate between the two types of fibers. Drug‐loaded gyrospun fibers release the drugs faster within 15 min compared to the drug‐loaded electrospun fibers. The findings suggest pressurized gyration is a promising and scalable approach to rapid fiber production for drug delivery when compared to electrospinning.

Cinnamon‐containing polycaprolactone (PCL) bandages were produced by pressurised gyration and their anti‐fungal activities against Candida albicans were investigated. It was found that by preparing and spinning polymer solutions of cinnamon with PCL, fibres capable of inhibiting fungal growth could be produced, as observed in disk diffusion tests for anti‐fungal susceptibility. Fascinatingly, compared with raw cinnamon powder, the novel cinnamon‐loaded fibres had outstanding long‐term activity. The results presented here are very promising and may indeed accelerate a new era of using completely natural materials in biomedical applications, especially in wound healing.

Bacterial Cellulose (BC) has over recent decades shown great versatility in wound healing dressings, but is difficult to spin fibers with at high concentrations. An investigation into the preparation of bandage-like fibrous meshes is carried out to determine the optimal blend of polycaprolactone (PCL) and polylactic acid (PLA) as a suitable carrier for BC. Using a simple centrifugal spinning setup, polymer blends of PCL, PLA and BC are investigated as a ternary system to determine the most suitable composition with a focus on achieving maximal BC concentration. It is found that BC content in the fibers above 10 wt % reduced product yield. By creating blends of PLA-PCL fibers, we can create a more suitable system in terms of yield and mechanical properties. The fibrous samples are examined for yield, fiber morphology using scanning electron microscopy, mechanical properties using tensile testing and chemical characteristics using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. A fibrous scaffold with > 30 wt % BC was produced with enhanced mechanical properties owing to the blending of PLA and PCL.