OBJECTIVES: Recent research has demonstrated that cells/cellular components can influence the corrosion or degradation of the implant material in addition to being challenged by the cytotoxic by-products the implant material may release. The overall objective of this research was to modify a microcarrier suspension cell culture system to incorporate an active corrosion experimental capacity. METHODS: The ability to conduct polarization experiments on two Ni-Cr dental casting alloys under the following environmental conditions: media only, media plus serum, media plus serum and antibiotics (complete media), complete media with microcarriers, and complete media with cells grown on microcarriers; was evaluated during this initial study. RESULTS: Results obtained were reproducible within sample groups (95% confidence level) indicating the precision of the corrosion set-up under all environmental conditions. These studies also show that media with serum and antibiotics (complete media) induced a significantly higher corrosion rate (95% confidence level) for both materials compared to the other test conditions. SIGNIFICANCE: Future experiments will focus on cytotoxic effects caused by parametrically controlled corrosion experiments on the suspension cell cultures, including co-cultures.