Brand_Name_Justification_FBO.pdf

Brand Name Justification

a. Project Title. Magnetom Prisma 3T MRI Scanner Upgrade

b. Project Description. Please see attached Purchase Description detailing the hardware and software specifications that are required to upgrade the TRIO 3T scanner to the Magnetom Prisma Scanner.

c. Identification of the Statutory Authority Permitting Other than Full and Open Competition.

X This acquisition is conducted under the authority of 41 United States Code (U.S.C.) 3304(a)(1) as set forth in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1.

d. Nature of the acquisition and proposed unique qualifications of the contractor(s).

A brand-name only acquisition of Siemens MRI upgrade technology is essential to the Government’s requirement, thereby precluding consideration of product manufactured by another company. As the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of the existing TRIO 3T MRI Scanner, Siemens also manufactures the technology that is required for the MRI scanner upgrade. As certified in the attached letter from Siemen’s, the technology that is required for the upgrade is proprietary to Siemens such that the Prisma Fit upgrade is designed to work exclusively as an upgrade to the TRIO MRI scanner. The exclusive design of the upgrade technology, coupled with the significant costs of purchasing a brand new non-Siemens MRI scanner, provide the necessary justification to conclude that the needs of this requirement can only be met through the purchase of brand-name only Siemens MRI upgrade technology that must be installed by Siemens authorized engineers who have the experience of upgrading a TRIO 3T to a Prisma MRI Scanner.

Specifically, due to the exclusive design of the Prisma Fit Upgrade technology, the existing TRIO 3T MRI Scanner can only be upgraded with compatible Siemens components. After examining the technical capabilities of the current MRI scanner, the NRB determined that the major components of the current MRI system are still usable and will continue to function in their full designed capacity for at least 10 more years. As such, this acquisition will incorporate upgraded components with the parts of the existing TRIO 3T MRI scanner as a cost saving measure. For instance, the current MRI super-conducting magnet, a critical component of the existing MRI scanner, is expected to be fully functional for another eight years. An actively shielded 3T 60 cm bore super-conducting magnet of this kind would cost about $1,000,000 today. Instead of purchasing a new MRI scanner with a brand new super-conducting magnet, the NRB determined that incorporating upgraded Prisma Fit components with the existing magnet would save the government from incurring unnecessary costs. As Siemens designed the Prisma Fit upgrade to work exclusively with the TRIO MRI scanner, however, the unique physical dimensions of the magnet and other usable TRIO components preclude the use of non-Siemens parts for the requested upgrade. As such, the subject requirement can only be met through a brand-name only acquisition of compatible Siemens parts.

Moreover, a brand-name only acquisition is appropriate because the alternative route of purchasing a brand new MRI scanner would result in significant costs for the government. Since purchasing the existing TRIO 3T MRI scanner, NRB physicists have spent considerable amount of time and resources working on customized improvements to the Siemens TRIO MRI scanner. Purchasing a new non-Siemens MRI Scanner would require NRB physicists to recreate the customized improvements from the ground up. For example, the NRB developed a “functional MRI” (fMRI) technique that can collect cerebral blood flow, blood volume, and blood oxygenation signals in a single scan. This technique has been implemented on the existing TRIO 3T MRI scanner as an “MRI pulse sequence” and has been used for several NRB’s studies. If this sequence needs to be reproduced on a non-Siemens scanner, it would take about three months to develop and implement the sequence by an experienced post-doctoral fellow.

The NRB has also developed a MRS sequence to measure and quantify neurotransmitter (glutamate and GABA) concentrations on the existing Siemens scanner. If these sequences need to be reproduced on a non-Siemens scanner, it would take about four months to develop and implement the sequences on a non-Siemens software platform by an experienced post-doctoral fellow. The NRB has also collaborated with a group at the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign to test a novel MRSI sequence that can map metabolite and neurotransmitter concentrations in the brain. This sequence is currently only available on Siemens scanners. If this sequence needs to be reproduced on a non-Siemens scanner, it would take about three months to develop and implement the sequence by two experienced post-doctoral fellows.

The costs associated with recreating the customized improvements on a non- Siemens MRI scanner would also create costs associated with loss productivity.

Due to the time that it would take to recreate the customized improvements, a prolonged delay would impede the NRB from accomplishing two key missions, namely performing studies related to the neural underpinnings of drug abuse and the training of future drug-abuse scientists. As a result, key personnel will be underutilized during the delays because significant resources are dedicated to the scanning of research participants. If the underutilized personnel is estimated to be about 40% of the branch’s total effort, then each month of delay is approximately $100,000 of lost productivity. As such, a brand-name only acquisition is appropriate to prevent the government from incurring avoidable costs.

More importantly, purchasing a non-Siemens MRI scanner would cause significant harm to the existing eight NIDA-IRP research protocols because these protocols were designed and planned with using a Siemens MRI Scanner. Some of the on-going research protocols have utilized the Siemens TRIO 3T MRI Scanner as an integral part of the study. Switching to a non-Siemens MRI scanner in the midst of the research protocol would result in irreconcilable variance between data sets and inconsistent research results. Moreover, the currently on-going research protocols would have to be reorganized from the initial planning stages to incorporate the non-Siemens MRI scanner, which would jeopardize approximately two years’ worth of effort by staff scientists, medical officers, clinical program managers, scanner technicians, and section chiefs.

Based on the aforementioned reasons, the NRB concludes that the needs of this requirement can only be met through a brand-name only acquisition of Siemens MRI hardware and software upgrades.