36C25620Q0763_2.docx

Contract Opportunity Sources Sought Notice

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* = Required Field Contract Opportunity Sources Sought Notice Animal OCT Research Equipment 72114 1706 36C25620Q0763 06-24-2020 3:00 pm

CENTRAL TIME, CHICAGO, USA

N 333314 Department of Veterans Affairs Chief, A&MM (90C/NLR) Central Arkansas Veterans HCS 2200 Fort Roots Drive, Bldg 41, Room 224 North Little Rock AR 72114 1706 Contracting Officer Sheila Reed Sheila.reed@va.gov 501-257-1053

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY, NOT A SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS SUCH. The Government will not pay for any information received in response to this notice, nor will the Government compensate any respondent for any cost incurred in developing the information provided to the Government. This notice does not constitute a commitment by the Government. Any information provided in response to this market survey will be used for informational purposes only and will not be released. Vendor participation is not a promise of future business with the Government.

The purpose of this notice is to conduct market research and obtain information from qualified businesses.

Potential sources must demonstrate experience and knowledge of required equipment. Potential sources shall submit:

· Business name, address, point of contact and phone number

· Business size, any applicable socio-economic category and DUNS number

· Capability statement and product literature demonstrating ability to meet all of the requirements listed below

· FSS (Federal Supply Schedule) Contract information, if applicable

· Response to the market research questions detailed below The NAICS Code for this procurement is 333314, Optical Instrument and Lens Manufacturing and the size standard is 500 employees.

The Department of Veterans Affairs, Network Contracting Office (NCO) 16, G. V. Sonny Montgomery VA Medical Center, 1500 E. Woodrow Wilson Ave, Jackson, MS 39216 has a requirement for the following:

Animal OCT imaging methods and applications.

Salient Characteristics:

This is an instrument for laboratory research only. Our need is a “Optical coherence tomography” (OCT) instrument for animal eye research studies. OCT is a non-invasive diagnostic technique that allows abnormalities of the various eye structures to be identified and measured. These abnormalities include disease processes in the retina as well as the front of the eye including the cornea, lens and angle.

The Jackson VAMC is studying the pathogenesis of eye diseases through the use of animal models. These models include models of diabetic retinopathy, military traumatic blast injury, and age-related macular degeneration. Being able to visualize the ocular structures through the use of OCT will advance these research studies. The OCT instrument should be originally designed for animal work, and particularly suited to visualize the rat retina. The instrument should be transportable so that it can be shared among investigators in different laboratory locations. The instrument needs to be upgradeable so that it can be adapted to different kinds of animals for future research studies. Finally, the tissue resolution needs to be 2.0 microns.

Market Research questions to be answered and submitted as part of vendor’s response:

· Was your instrument originally designed with animal research in mind. Or, was it adapted from a design originally intended for human use?

· Is the instrument easily transportable to different laboratory locations?

· We are interested in working with rats only, and do not want to purchase accessories that we don’t need. Can you tailor our system for just what we need presently?

· Can the system be upgraded later in order to use it for other research studies for other animals?

· How user friendly is your software?

· Does your technical representatives deal extensively with OCT imaging?

· What is your customer support like? How easy it is to get questions answered after the sale?

· How widely used is your instrument within the scientific community?

Responses to this notice shall be emailed to Sheila Reed at Sheila.reed@va.gov. Include the following in the email subject line: “RFI – Animal Eye Research Equip ”. Responses must be received by 3:00pm (central), Wednesday, June 24, 2020.

NO ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE OTHER THAN WHAT IS NOTED HEREIN.