Attachment 1 Purchase Description.pdf

Version 11-30-2016-1 FAR Part 11—Describing Agency Needs

PURCHASE DESCRIPTION

BRAND NAME OR EQUAL

1. Statement of Need and Purpose: The newly established Molecular Neurobiology Section at NINDS investigates mechanisms of neural regeneration after injury and requires an upright confocal fluorescence microscope.

This confocal microscope will be used to image sections of neural tissue stained with multiple antibodies and/or fluorescent in situ probes targeted to proteins and transcripts of interest. The primary purpose is to be able to heavily multiplex different fluorphores on a single slide, take high quality images for publication purposes, and scan whole slides in a semi-automated manner for screening purposes. Additional specimens imaged on this microscope will include cleared whole tissue (i.e., cleared mouse brain), and sections of tissue that have been injected with or contain a neural circuit tracer.

2. Background Information and Objective: The Molecular Meurobiology Section (MNS) is new to NIH/NINDS. The main goal of the MNS is to identify the signaling pathways important for neural regeneration after injury and currently uses the mouse olfactory epithelium, which has robust regenerative capacity, as a primary model. A primary approach to understanding mechanisms of neural regeneration is to observe the expression and localization of specific genes and proteins labeled with fluorescent tags in sections of tissue using a confocal microscope. The confocal microscope system described here will allow the MNS to observe specific genes and proteins in the olfactory epithelium of mice before and after injury. In addition, it will allow for the evaluation of transgenic mice containing fluorescent reporters and mice that have been exposed to a neural circuit tracer with the objective of tracing developmental pathways and neural circuits.

3. Generic Name of Product: Upright confocal point scanning microscope system

4. Purchase Description: Equipment brand name or equal to Leica STELLARIS 8 (Leica Stellaris 8 with a conventional scanner, STELLARIS 8 Spectral Scanhead, UV Laser Diode and Port, DM6 Automated Upright Microscope and Components, actively damped optical table, LAS X Software and Premium CUDA Workstation, Installation, Training, and Microscope Objectives as described in detail below)

5. Minimum Salient characteristics: The vendor shall provide equipment brand name or equal to Leica Microsystems STELLARIS 8 with the following material elements:

1. Spectral Scanhead and Tunable-Speed conventional scanner, which has the capacity for linear scanning at speeds up to 2600 Hz or 5200 Hz bidirectionally, scan formats up to 8192x8192 pixels, continuous zoom and scan field rotation, and 10 frames per second x 5 simultaneous channels for 50 images per second at 512x512 resolution

2. the STELLARIS White Light Laser (WLL) Extreme, which is able to excite 8 different wavelengths simultaneously, each excitation line being tunable in 1nm increments;

laser pulsing allows for lifetime imaging with all detectors (described in #4 below)

3. the Dynamic Acousto-Optical-Beam-Spitter (AOBS), which instantantly adapts to each of 8 laser lines simultaneously, has over 95% transmission across the full visible spectrum, and avoids the need for filters

4. Five (5) simultaneous fully multi-spectral detection channels, including 3 solid state detectors with sensitivity up to 850nm, and 2 GaAsP dectectors for imaging wavelengths from 410nm to 750nm, along with transmission light detection

5. the TauSense Family of modalities, including TauContrast, TauSeparation, and TauGating, which use fluorescence lifetime information to generate images, add multiplexing options beyond the standard spectral options, identify auto-fluorescence, and eliminate coverglass reflection

6. LAS X Software, including Leica LAS X Lightning Expert for maximizing signal over noise in order to resolve separate signals that are as close together as 120nm laterally and 200nm axially -- this provides near real-time confocal super resolution capabilities and allows for offline reconstruction -- and LAS X 3D Visualization software module for 3D reconstruction. Additional features include the Navigator basic package for defining regions and positions for high resolution scans with stitching, overview images of any shape, and spiral scanning.

7. Premium CUDA workstation with Intel Xeon Gold 6244 processor, 96 GB of working memory, Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000 graphics card, 256 GB SATA SSD system drive, 2 TB M.2 SSD hard drive for temporary data storage, and 6 TB HDD drive for data storage

8. High brilliance monitor with 95 cm (diagonal) display, 4K-Wide resolution at 60 Hz, 178 degrees horizontal and 178 degrees vertical angle, contrast ratio of 1000:1 static and 5,000,000:1 dynamic, IPS display with LED-Backlight, and 1 DisplayPort, 1 HDMI input port, and 1 USB Type-C port

9. Small 80x80 cm computer table

10. Four (4) microscope objectives, including

-HC PL FLUOTAR 5X/0.15 NA

-HC PL FLUOTAR 10X/0.30 NA

-HC PL APO 20X/0.75 NA CS2, 0.62 mm working distance -HC PL APO 40X/1.10 NA W/ CORR CS2, 0.65 mm working distance

11. DM6 automated upright microscope and components, including in particular an XY-motorized scanning stage for DM6

These features meet the government’s primary minimum requirement of having the ability to multiplex probes for confocal fluorescence imaging of olfactory epithelium and other nervous system tissues using tunable lasers, simultaneous spectral detection channels, fluorescence lifetime information, and a conventional tunable-speed scanner at 5x, 10x, 20x, and 40x magnification and 8,192 x 8,192 resolution. Additionally, the LAS X Software with Lightning Expert meets the government’s minimum requirements of resolving signals as close together as 120nm (offline), 3D reconstruction, and semi-automated scanning of a whole slide with Z-stacking.

6. Other Requirements: The Contractor shall provide an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) certified technician to perform the setup and installation of the equipment.

Warranty - The Contractor shall warrant that all computer equipment (computer, monitor) will be free from defects for a period of at least three (3) years from the date of installation, inspection by the Government, and acceptance. The Contractor shall further warrant that all optical and mechanical components will be free from defects for a period of at least five (5) years from the date of installation, inspection and acceptance by the Government. Warranty service shall include trouble-shooting capabilities based on complete knowledge of the entire system. Warranty shall not include routine or periodic maintenance services.

7. Quantity: One (1) microscope system

8. Delivery, Installation, and Training Date: The Contractor shall deliver the equipment to Building 35 at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland within 90 days after receipt of order. The equipment shall be delivered and installed between the hours of 8:00am and 5:00pm EST, Monday through Friday. Delivery must be Freight on Board (FOB) Destination and include inside delivery. The equipment shall be delivered and installed in coordination with the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) at the time the equipment is ready to be shipped.

The Contractor shall provide on-site training within 30 days after equipment installation.

In total, the Contractor shall deliver, install, and provide training on the system within 120 days after receipt of order.