Average 5× higher yield
more biomass per run (yield depends on organoid type)
Up to 75% less hands-on work
automation instead of tedious manual handling steps
Up to 60% lower media cost
the bioreactor design reduces the total media volume needed
What is the RPMotion?
The RPMotion is a spinning organoid bioreactor that seamlessly integrates with your laboratory infrastructure. A dynamic culture system that keeps organoids continuously in motion, resulting in a more homogeneous distribution of nutrients, oxygen and growth factors compared to static dome cultures. It consists of patented stirring rods in standard 50 mL conical tubes, fits inside your existing COâ‚‚ incubator, and supports up to 32 parallel runs per incubator. The result is a significantly higher organoid yield with biological relevance retained.
It's used by research teams in academia, biopharma and biotech working with organoids, from expansion and biobanking to drug screening and infection models.
Plug in
Place the bioreactor in your cell-culture incubator and connect it to the external control unit.
Rotate
Patented stirring rods, designed specifically for gentle organoid suspension culture, homogeneously resuspend your cells, media, extracellular matrix and growth factors and improve oxygenation. Creating ideal conditions for organoid expansion or differentiation.
Result
An average 5-fold higher organoid yield, with consistent organoid quality from run to run.
Why rotation beats static culture at the cellular level
Continuous, gentle motion ensures homogeneous gas and nutrient exchange across the whole suspension culture, while in a static hydrogel dome, cells in the centre may starve or suffocate. You also have the option to refresh media during culture by briefly settling the organoids between runs, something that isn't possible in a fixed hydrogel dome.
Stirring vs. static, at the
cell-biology level
In a static dome culture, organoids depend on diffusion of nutrients and oxygen, while waste builds up locally. As a result, organoids at the edge of the hydrogel dome are exposed to different conditions than those in the centre. In contrast, the RPMotion's continuous, gentle motion keeps conditions even across the whole culture.
- Exchange — Homogeneous gas, nutrient and growth factor distribution throughout. Diffusion limits are removed, so organoids across the culture are exposed to the same conditions.
- Waste — kept away from the cells, with the option to easily refresh media during the run.
- Yield & maturation — increased expansion (average ~5×), while retaining their function
- Workflow — far less manual handling.
The result for your data: more biomass per run and more uniform culture conditions, without changing the functionality of your organoids.
The advantages of culturing organoids in the RPMotion
✔ Reduced operator-dependent variability - Greater automation and a streamlined, standardized workflow make results less dependent on individual operator experience and handling.
✔ Efficiency - Higher throughput, far less manual handling, fewer failed cultures.
✔ Biological relevance - A dynamic micro-environment is more physiological than a static dome culture.
✔ Scientific support - Standard Operating Protocols and hands-on guidance from the Orgonex team, especially helpful when starting on a new organoid type.
✔ Workflow fit - The RPMotion drops into existing workflows with minimal training; experiments can be started within one day.
"As a university lab, we can now freely scale up dynamic cultures from 5 to 50 mL, exactly when our research calls for it."
— Biomaterials Chemistry Group, Dutch University
Technical specifications
Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Culture principle | Stirred suspension with patented stirring rods optimized for organoid culture |
| Organoid source | Organoids derived from adult stem cells and iPSCs |
| Validated breadth | Proven increased expansion for organoids from a wide variety of tissues — healthy and tumor-derived |
| Working volume | 5 mL starting volume per tube; up to 50 mL filled volume after two weeks |
| Vessel format | Standard 50 mL conical tubes (e.g. Falcon, Greiner) |
| Cell load (typical) | Inoculate ~100,000 cells/mL in 5 mL; adjust to growth rate. Yield after two weeks: 20–40 million cells per tube |
| Throughput | Up to 32 tubes per incubator (modules of 4 tubes) |
| RPM range | 40–100 rpm; optimum around 80 rpm for most organoid types |
| Control | External LCD control unit, placed outside the incubator, logs your experiments |
| Compatibility | Standard COâ‚‚ incubators; works with Matrigel, BME2 or matrix-free suspension |
| Disposables | Stainless-steel stirring rods are autoclavable and reusable; caps with integrated filter are disposable, available from Orgonex |
Compatible with your existing lab infrastructure
- Standard 50 mL conical tubes — no proprietary vessels required.
- Fits your existing COâ‚‚ incubator — no special installation.
- Plug-and-play — controlled from outside the incubator and immediately operational.
What stays the same
Your optimized organoid culture protocols translate directly to suspension culture in the RPMotion, using the same media and ECM components. If you grow in Matrigel or BME2, you keep doing so inside the bioreactor. We recommend 5 - 10% (v/v). If you grow matrix-free in suspension, no matrix is needed in the RPMotion either.
How the RPMotion compares
How dynamic culture in the RPMotion stacks up against the methods most labs use today: across mixing, working volume, vessel, throughput, uniformity and hands-on time.
RPMotion | Static dome | Spinner flask | Orbital shaker | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mixing | Organoid-specific stirring rod (gentle, dynamic) | None (static hydrogel) | Impeller-driven | Orbital agitation |
| Working volume | 5–50 mL | µL–mL droplets | 100 mL + | Variable |
| Vessel | Standard 50 mL conical tube | Multiwell plate / dish | Proprietary flask | Flask / plate |
| Throughput per incubator | Up to 32 (8 modules) | Plate-limited | Low (bulky) | Plate-limited |
| Uniformity | No heterogeneity from diffusion limits | Edge vs. core differences | No heterogeneity from diffusion limits | Variable |
| Hands-on labour | Up to 75% reduction | High | Moderate | Moderate |
Applications
The RPMotion works across a broad range of organoid types. Below are the ones we have validated so far. Both cystic and compact/budding organoids grow well, and budding phenotypes are retained inside the RPMotion.
Adult stem cell-derived organoids
Liver, small intestine, pancreas, kidney, colon.
Tumour organoids
Colon, breast, lung, paediatric tumours.
iPSC-derived organoids
For example cardiac and brain.
Built by organoid scientists,
for organoid scientists
The RPMotion was developed by Dr. Kerstin Schneeberger and Dr. Bart Spee at Utrecht University, organoid scientists who built it to solve the variability and labour problems they kept running into during their own experiments. Their work has been published in the peer-reviewed journal Cell Reports Methods. Orgonex, a spin-off company of Utrecht University, and now part of the Demcon group, has further developed the RPMotion under an exclusive license.
Working with
Frequently asked questions
What is the RPMotion and how does it differ from a static dome culture?
RPMotion is a spinning organoid bioreactor — a dynamic culture system that keeps organoids continuously in motion, distributing nutrients, oxygen and growth factors more homogeneously compared to static dome cultures. The result is a higher organoid yield with retained functional relevance.
Do I need to adapt my organoid protocol to use the RPMotion?
RPMotion is plug-and-play. Minimal adaptation is required. The RPMotion uses the same media and ECM components as your current protocol; the main difference is that organoids grow in suspension rather than in a static hydrogel dome.
Is the RPMotion compatible with my current incubators and tubes?
Yes. It fits in standard COâ‚‚ incubators and uses standard 50 mL conical tubes, so integration is simple. The only RPMotion-specific item is the filter cap, which is available from Orgonex.
Can I culture both cystic and dense or budding organoids in the RPMotion?
Yes. Both cystic and compact organoids grow well in the RPMotion, and organoids that show a budding phenotype in static culture retain that phenotype inside the bioreactor.
Do I need a matrix in the RPMotion?
If you currently grow your organoids in an ECM matrix (Matrigel/BME2), you use the same in the RPMotion, we recommend 5 - 10% (v/v). If your organoids grow matrix-free in suspension, none is needed in the RPMotion either.
What rotation speed should I use?
Optimal speed varies slightly by organoid type, between 40 and 100 rpm. We recommend optimizing for new organoid types, or starting at 80 rpm, which works well for most organoid types tested.
How many cells do I need as starting material?
It depends on the organoid type. As a guideline, inoculate ~100,000 cells/mL in a 5 mL starting volume. Faster-growing organoids usually proliferate better at lower starting concentrations; for organoids that proliferate better at higher density in static culture due to dependence on paracrine signaling, we recommend starting the RPMotion with a higher inoculation density.
Can I start from a static culture, frozen organoids, or directly from a biopsy?
All three. You can inoculate the RPMotion from existing static cultures, directly from organoids stored in liquid nitrogen, or — as shown in the supplementary data of our publication — directly from a biopsy.
Can I use RPMotion for continuous culture and for differentiation?
Yes to both. After two weeks the tube is full according to our SOP; simply passage an aliquot into a new tube to keep the culture going. To differentiate, let the organoids settle (or briefly spin at low speed), remove the expansion medium, and resuspend in differentiation medium.
Are the disposables expensive? What's reusable?
The stainless-steel stirring rods are reusable after autoclaving. The caps with integrated filter are disposable and available from Orgonex, contact us for pricing details.
Discover how the RPMotion automates your organoid workflow
We offer a structured demo in which you can test culturing your own organoid type in the RPMotion, while we support you with advice throughout the experiment.
