Abstract
Dynamic culture is known for promoting cell growth and tissue development in tissue engineering, largely attributed to the improved mass distribution and physical stimulation to cells. It is normally expected that it can lead to higher cell population and better construct structure compared to static culture. This work studies the flow effect on cell growth in a three dimensional construct at the initial culture stage. It is found that the flow could reduce initial cell number in the construct due to cell detachment. The reduction of cell population might actually lead to constructs with comparable or inferior properties in subsequent dynamic culture compared to static culture.