Attachment 2 Specifications 1232SA26Q0320.pdf

Project Purchase of an automated spiral plater and colony counter platform

General Information

1.0 Scope of Work

Vendor is to deliver a new automated spiral plater and colony counter platform having the technical requirements as identified below

2.0 Background

Enumeration of microbial cells in solution is performed by inoculating agar Petri dishes with diluted sample, allowing the cells to grow up, and then counting the number of colonies on the plate. The process can be tedious because it typically requires preparation of multiple dilutions to be accurate. Automated spiral plater platforms simplify the process by inoculating Petri dishes with samples in a spiral pattern using controlled dispensing to create a series of dilutions on the plate. Microbial colonies that grow up on the plate are then detected and counted using an image analysis system. The USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Peoria, Illinois, has a need to a replace an existing automated spiral plater (Eddy Jet 2W) and colony counter platform (SphereFlash) for analyzing microbial cells as part of mission critical research to expand markets and create new uses for U.S. agricultural products.

Contractor Requirements

3.0 Technical Requirements / Tasks

The new spiral plater platform must have the following technical requirements:

Brand Name or Equal to: Eddy Jet 2W

1. Capable of inoculating agar Petri plates with microbiological samples in a spiral fashion to achieve uniform (concentration remains constant regardless of position in plate), linear (hyperbolic concentration gradients), or logarithmic (concentration decreases logarithmically with distance from center of plate) dispensing of sample.

2. Utilizes sterile dispensing tips for agar Petri plate inoculations to minimize cross-contamination between samples without the need for disinfectants or waste fluid management system (e.g., washing stations or disinfectant fluids for cleaning tubing and tips).

3. System must be able to automatically aspirate microbiological samples for spiral plating and change dispensing tips between samples.

4. Capable of spiral plating on 90 mm and 150 mm diameter Petri dishes.

5. Capable of customizing dispensing modes to accommodate different biological samples and dilution methods on the instrument.

6. Reproducibility >99%

7. Cycle time between sample dispensing of less than 45 seconds.

8. Spiral plating capable of generating a threefold dilution gradient on a single plate and up to 5 log range with 150 mm plates.

9. Supports spiral plating that conforms to AOAC Official Methods of Analysis, sec. 977.27(4) and ISO 7218.

The new automated colony counter platform must have the following technical requirements:

Brand Name or Equal to: SphereFlash

10. Capable of imaging and counting pour plates, spread plate, spiral plate and Petri film in <2 seconds.

11. Ability to add or remove colonies from plate image analysis.

12. Capable of defining zones within the plate that should be excluded from counts.

13. Automatic calibration and verification.

14. Capable of reading Petri plates 60 mm, 90 mm, and 100 mm diameters.

15. Capable of saving results in a report table.

16. Ability to produce and retain records of the original plate image as well as the colony-counting algorithm design and threshold settings.

17. Software compatibility with spiral plater dispensing programs (Requirements #1 and #8) for accurate measurements of colony forming unit counts in the original microbiological sample.

4.0 Deliverables / Schedule

Key Deliverables

Item No. Deliverable Objective Due 1 Delivery and

Installation with government provided

PC

To set up and validate functionality of automated spiral plater and colony counter platform.

No later than 120 calendar days after contract award.

2 Training To familiarize the end user on how to use the instrument and software.

Immediately following installation or within one month of installation, unless both parties agree on a different time.