Centrifugal spinning for biomedical use: a review

The use of polymeric fiber scaffolds in the biomedical field has been studied extensively in recent years. Among the principal methods used for obtaining the scaffold fibers at the micrometer to nanometer scale are: electrospinning, blow-spinning, and centrifugal spinning, with different peculiarities applying to each methodology. The centrifuge spinning method stands out for its simplicity and high rate of fiber production, despite the fact that it is little used to obtain fibers for scaffolds. The objective of this bibliographical review is to present a brief history of the centrifugal spinning method and the flexibility and easiness of its implementation when compared to the others. Furthermore, this article presents the types of medical applications being studied, the properties used in the methods (showing the current range of applications), and the characteristics of the polymer fibers and membranes obtained, as well as the performance of scaffolds in cell culture and in vivo tests, based on published work. This all illustrates the high potential of the technique for use in the biomedical field.