ABSTRACT
Within the rapidly advancing fi eld of regenerative medicine, cell-based therapies have emerged as a promising alternative to cardiac transplant for the management of damaged heart tissue. Various transplant methods have been examined in subjects with acute or prior myocardial infarction, including direct myocardium injection or intracoronary infusion of cell suspension (Segers and Lee 2008). Cell suspension transplantation methods are particularly easy to apply as they do not require particular manipulation of tissues, but this strategy is limited by the inability to precisely control the shape, size and location of transplanted cells, thereby possibly leading to marginal engraftment and suboptimal outcomes. Furthermore, isolated cell transplantation is not well suited for the treatment of myocardial tissue defects.
