Mayo Clinic researchers and colleagues in Belgium have developed a specialized catheter for transplanting stem cells into the beating heart. This new catheter is being used in the European CHART-1 clinical trials, now underway. This is the first Phase III trial to regenerate hearts of patients who have suffered heart attack damage. The novel device includes a curved needle and graded openings along the needle shaft, allowing for increased distribution of cells. The result is maximized retention of stem cells to repair the heart. The findings appear in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions. Researchers from the Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine in Rochester and Cardio3 Biosciences in Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium, collaborated to develop the device, beginning with computer modeling in Belgium. Once refined, the computer-based models were tested in North America for safety and retention efficiency. To learn more, watch the video below. Read the full news release here. http://youtu.be/YsJsorTdGFk

Imagine lying in a hospital room after a heart attack. The doctor comes in with a small device that looks like a tiny apple corer ...

Mayo Clinic, California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, and Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS) at Kyoto University ...