J_and_A Decision to Restrict Competition Under the Simplified Acquisition Threshold Solicitation 1232SA26Q1189_Redacted.pdf

This is a Decision to Restrict Competition under the Simplified Acquisition Threshold issued by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS).

The procurement (Requisition Number 1169660) seeks to acquire a high-speed, research-grade spectral-domain Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) system for analyzing poultry tissue. The system must be capable of rapid 1D/2D/3D mapping of chicken tissues and subsurface muscle structures, with specific technical requirements including imaging depth of at least 1 mm in tissue (or measured in water), axial resolution better than 2.3 µm in tissue or water, maximum A-scan rate of at least 240 kHz, and support for working distances up to 25 mm with longer-distance objectives when required. The contracting activity has restricted competition to a single source: Thorlabs, Inc., located at 2722 ABC Drive, 43 Sparta Avenue, Newton, NJ 07860 (UEI: LAV9YWRCEGX1). The justification for this restriction is based on market research identifying only a limited number of commercial vendors capable of producing high-speed research-grade SD-OCT systems meeting performance specifications. Among identified vendors—Thorlabs, Lumedica, Santec, and Wasatch Photonics—only Thorlabs offers a fully turnkey SD-OCT system meeting all required specifications, specifically the Ganymede-series GAN632C1 model. The document includes technical and contracting officer certifications affirming the accuracy and completeness of the supporting justification data.