Abstract: Stem cell therapy might ameliorate heart failure by promoting neovascularization, regenerating cardiac tissue, and recruiting resident stem cells. Several clinical trials have shown beneficial effects of stem cell transplantation to improve cardiac function in ischemia heart disease. However, to fully understand the beneficial effects of stem cell therapy, investigators must be able to track the biology and physiology of transplanted cells in living subjects over time. Molecular imaging, a multidisciplinary field which provides integrated information on specific molecules of interest within the cells of living subjects and thus holds great promise as an effective way to track the transplanted cells.

Key words: Key words: stem cells, molecular imaging, ischemic heart diseases, cell therapy