A physician, nurse, or other healthcare practitioner can deliver a therapeutic agent to a patient in a manner that maintains effectiveness of the therapeutic agent, via monitoring and controlling shear, stress, or other potentially detrimental effect. A gauge, meter, or other monitoring device can provide an indication of shear (or other effect) that the therapeutic agent is experiencing during delivery. The monitoring device can provide information relevant to delivering the therapeutic agent in a manner that maintains effectiveness, thereby guiding the practitioner during delivery. For example, the monitoring device can display an estimate of shear based on sensing flow rate or pressure. The therapeutic agent can comprise one or more therapeutic cells, such as progenitor cells or stem cells, or some other healing substance delivered via a cardiac catheter to the patient's cardiovascular tissue, for example.