Enhanced Device for Cell Delivery to the Myocardium: Validation in Swine Hearts

Background: Endocardial infusion is a minimally invasive procedure for cell delivery with good selectivity to the target region. However, certain limitations to current devices could affect the precision of the procedure and the therapeutic outcome. Therefore, we developed an enhanced device for transendocardial cell infusion. Methods and Results: Our device is based on an electrode-guided transendocardial bidirectional 75 cm long catheter and 0.5 mm diameter inner needle. The key advantages of our device are the slender catheter diameter (7 Fr), consistent needle tip length, regulation of the catheter angle and independence between the needle and catheter. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were obtained from the inguinal adipose tissue of six healthy swine and propagated through 2-3 passages. Using the catheter, pre-labeled MSCs were infused autogenously into the swine hearts. The MSCs-infused myocardial regions were harvested on the infusion day (day 0) or 2 days later, and histological analysis was performed. The MSCs were successfully infused into all six swine myocardia and distributed along the hole made by the needle. The spread area of MSCs was larger at 2 days after infusion than at day 0 (1.38 ± 0.26 vs. 0.51 ± 0.17 mm2/infusion, p=0.013). No complications occurred during the procedure, such as cardiac tamponade or arrhythmia. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that our enhanced device could be useful for delivering cells into the myocardium.