B_Sources_Sought_Notice__No__75N95024Q00475_2.docx

SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE

1. Notice ID: 75N95024Q00475

2. Title: Lightspeed Mode Upgrade Package for Existing Miltenyi Biotec UltraMicroscope Blaze Imaging System (Brand-name or equal)

3. Classification Code: 6640 - LABORATORY EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES

4. NAICS Code: 334516 - ANALYTICAL LABORATORY INSTRUMENT MANUFACTURING

5. Size Standard: 1,000 employees

6. Description:

This is a Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of all qualified sources to perform a potential requirement.

This notice is issued to help determine the availability of qualified companies technically capable of meeting the Government requirement, to determine the method of acquisition, and availability of domestic sources manufactured in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available commercial quantities and of a satisfactory quality. It is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotes. No award will be made as a result of this notice. The Government will NOT be responsible for any costs incurred by any respondent to this notice. This notice is strictly for research and information purposes only. Small businesses are encouraged to respond.

For equipment/supply requirements, responses must include the place of manufacturing (i.e. state in the response if supply/equipment is a domestic end product and include country of manufacture). For equipment/supply requirements, small businesses must also address the size status of the manufacturer under the applicable NAICS code (i.e., address the Non-Manufacturer Rule in the response).

7. Background:

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NINDS is 1 of 27 NIH Institutes and Centers. The NINDS’s mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease for all people.

The NINDS’s Flow Cytometry and Imaging Core Facility (FCIC) supports basic and clinical research within NINDS and across NIH and has been receiving an increasing number of requests to perform multispectral 3D imaging of a wide variety of cleared tissue samples. Currently, this scanning process takes between severral hours to several days per sample, depending on sample size, number of imaging channels, and imaging resolution acquired. Procuring the LightSpeed Mode hardware and software upgrade for NINDS’s existing UltraMicroscope Blaze imaging system will decrease the scanning time of samples by up to 60-fold, thereby improving the FCIC’s bandwidth and productivity in supporting light sheet microscopy imaging projects.

8. Purpose and Objectives:

The NINDS’s FCIF seeks to purchase Miltenyi Biotec’s LightSpeed Mode hardware and software upgrade package for an existing Miltenyi Biotec light sheet UltraMicroscope Blaze imaging system to meet current and future needs for 3D multispectral imaging applications of whole organ tissues including whole mouse, rat and monkey brains, and large specimens of human brain tissue, after tissue clearing.

This hardware and software upgrade package includes replacement of required electronic and optical parts, installation of new LightSpeed image acquisition and MACS iQ View 3D image processing software, installation of a custom configured scientific computer integrated to control the upgraded functionalities of the UltraMicroscope Blaze imaging system. This upgrade will enable up to a 60-fold increase in imaging speed, continuous movement of the scanning stage with optimal camera synchronization to enable fast tiling 3D scans at high spatial resolution.

9. Project Requirements:

The essential physical, functional, performance, or material elements that satisfy the Upgrade Package requirements are as follows:

· All hardware components, including electronic components must be fully compatible with existing Miltenyi Biotec UltraMicroscope Blaze imaging system.

· One LightSpeed mode upgrade permanent LightSpeed license, one Blaze PC, and Blaze electronics required for upgrade. LightSpeed license must be fully compatible with existing Miltenyi Biotect UltraMicroscope Blaze imaging system and enable 3D multispectral image acquisition and post-acquisition large volume data processing using the UltraMicroscope Blaze imaging system.

· One permanent, commercial license of MACS iQ View 3D large volume package imaging software for post-acquisition processing of big data image datasets ranging in the multi-TB size range, including installation of software and driver. Must include 2 years of software updates following date of installation.

· One 3D printed Blaze slider holder with clamping. Allows fitting of several specimen sizes to Miltenyi Biotec Ultramicroscope Blaze via movable slider. Includes custom slide holders with clamping to ensure tight adhesion to the stage arm, and one spare slider. Chemically smoothed following 3D print.

· One 3D printed sample holder base 21mm with clamping system ensuring tight adhesion to the stage arm of the Ultramicroscope Blaze. Chemically smoothed following 3D print.

· One 3D printed sample holder base 52mm with clamping system ensuring tight adhesion to the stage arm of the Ultramicroscope Blaze. Chemically smoothed following 3D print.

· One custom-configured scientific imaging computer (PC) that is fully compatible with existing Miltenyi Biotec UltraMicroscope Blaze imaging system and can seamlessly enable fast tile 3D big image data acquisition using the UltraMicroscope Blaze imaging system. Includes PC installation, and exchange of motor control board, and functional controls on the existing Miltenyi Biotec UltraMicroscope Blaze imaging system.

The essential physical, functional, performance, or material elements that meet the Project requirements for an equivalent Lightspeed Mode Upgrade Package for Existing Miltenyi Biotec UltraMicroscope Blaze Imaging System are as follows:

· Full compatibility of all optical and electronic components with existing UltraMicroscope Blaze imaging system.

· Full software compatibility for fast 3D multispectral image acquisition and post-acquisition big image data processing using existing UltraMicroscope Blaze imaging system.

· Up to 60-fold increase in acquisition speed performance for fast 3D multispectral imaging of large tissue specimens, including whole mouse, rat and monkey brains, and large specimens of human brain tissue, after tissue clearing.

· Custom slide holders with clamping to mount tissue specimens up to 60mm in size on the existing UltraMicroscope Blaze.

· Knife-edge calibration tool for light sheet calibration of existing UltraMicroscope Blaze imaging system.

· One custom-configured scientific imaging computer fully compatible to seamlessly support fast tile 3D big image data acquisition using existing UltraMicroscope Blaze imaging system and enabled by LightSpeed acquisition imaging hardware and software upgrade.

· One permanent, commercial license of MACS iQ View 3D imaging software for post-acquisition processing of extremely large image datasets ranging in the multi-TB image size range. This software must include seamless functionalities for 3D cropping, de-striping, denoising, deconvolution, image stitching, contrast compression, and batch processing, and 2 years of software updates following date of installation.

All products required to meet the Project Requirements described herein shall include a one-year manufacturer’s warranty, and the Contractor shall warrant such items against defects in material, fabrication, or workmanship for a minimum of one year following the date of Government’s acceptance or installation, whichever is later.

All products required to meet the Project Requirements described herein shall be delivered and installed within 30 days after Contractor’s receipt of order (ARO). Delivery shall be FOB Destination and shall include delivery to NIH/NINDS, Flow Cytometry and Imaging Core Facility located at 10 Center Drove, Building 10, Room 5S-241, Bethesda MD 20892, USA between the hours of 8:30 am and 5:00 pm Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except Federal Holidays).

10. Other important considerations:

In case domestic sources are available and capable of fulfilling the Government’s need, and a future solicitation is published, the Government will use evaluation preferences in accordance with FAR Part 25.

11. Capability statement /information sought:

Companies that believe they possess the capabilities to provide the required products or services should submit documentation of their ability to meet each of the project requirements to the Contracting Officer. The capability statement must specifically address each of the project requirements separately. Additionally, the capability statement should include 1) the professional qualifications of personnel as it relates to the Project requirements outlined, 3) any contractor GSA Schedule contracts and/or other government-wide acquisition contracts (GWACs) by which all Project requirements described herein may be met, if applicable, and 4) any other information considered relevant to the Project requirements outlined. Capability statements must also include the Company Name, Unique Entity ID from SAM.gov, Physical Address, Mailing Address. The response must include the respondents’ technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses.

Interested companies are required to identify their type of business, applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code, and size standards in accordance with the Small Business Administration. The government requests that no proprietary or confidential business data be included in a response to this notice. However, responses that indicate the information therein is proprietary will be properly safeguarded for Government use only.

Capability statements must include the name and telephone number of a point of contact having authority and knowledge to discuss responses with Government representatives. Capability statements in response to this market survey that do not provide sufficient information for evaluation will be considered non-responsive. When submitting this information, please reference the notice number.

The Capability Statement must be in an outline format that addresses each of the elements of the Project requirement stated herein. A cover page and an executive summary may be included but are not required. One copy of the response is required and must be in Microsoft Word or searchable Adobe PDF format using 11-point or 12-point font and 8-1/2” x 11” page size. The response is limited to eight (8) pages. The 8-page limit does not include the cover page and executive summary if applicable.

All responses to this notice must be submitted electronically to the Contracting Officer. Facsimile responses are NOT accepted.

The response must be submitted to Marlene Milgram, Contracting Officer, at e-mail address marlene.milgram@nih.gov.

The response must be received on or before July 29, 2024, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

“Disclaimer and Important Notes: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work.

Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a presolicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published on www.sam.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.

Confidentiality: No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).”