Study and characterization of the cellular viability of non-fractured and fractured PVA/SA scaffolds with cardiomyocyte cells using electrochemical impedance and biological measurements

[Display omitted] •Impedance to assess the biocompatibility and degradation of a cultured cell.•Cardiomyocyte cells seeded into poly(vinyl alcohol) and sodium alginate scaffold.•The dielectric parameters of the PVA/SA ratios to determine the cell impedance.•Three concentrations of PVA/SA were electrospunned: 3.5 wt%, 4 wt%, and 5 wt%.•The 5.0 wt% ratio showed the highest cell number with a more organized network. Achieving continuous cell growth on culture scaffolds indicates biocompatibility features in a biological system. On the other hand, a cell decrease indicates undesirable conditions of the scaffold. This study demonstrates that crushed poly(vinyl-alcohol) and sodium alginate (PVA/SA) scaffolds are detrimental to rat cardiomyocyte culture. The polymeric scaffold was produced by using the electrospinning technique. Three different PVA/SA concentrations were electrospun: 3.5 wt%, 4 wt%, and 5.0 wt%. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy monitored the dielectric properties of the culture. The cellular study was carried out with Calcein-AM staining, while the architecture morphology was characterized with stereoscopic and optical microscopes. Results showed that the morphology and the cell proliferation rate depended on the PVA/SA concentration. The 5.0 wt% scaffold proved the most effective, given that it developed the highest impedance magnitude and the highest cell number with a more organized network formation. However, crushed scaffolds promoted a rapid cell decrease regardless of the PVA/SA ratio, since the cardiomyocyte cells did not form a biofilm on the electrospun-mats. Therefore, a homogenous scaffold is needed to guarantee biocompatibility features.