Sources Sought PCA-NIEHS-04774.docx

IVM-CMS Platform: all-in-one Intravital Microscope (IVM) system Sources Sought Notice # PCA-NIEHS-04774 Contracting Office Address Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, Office of Acquisitions, OA Office of the Director, OD 6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 537-S, Bethesda, MD, 20892.

Introduction This is a notice issued on behalf of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Office of Acquisitions, OA Office of the Director, OD, DHHS, UNITED STATES. This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this Sources Sought is to seek the availability and capability of small business concerns, including 8(a) small business and/or small qualified small business concerns [including Small Disadvantaged Businesses (SDB), Woman-owned Small Businesses (WOSB), Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) Small Businesses, Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (VOSB) and Service-Disabled Veteran-owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB] that are interested in and capable of performing the work described in the statement of work. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible.

Background The National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) is seeking small businesses with the ability to provide IVM-CMS Platform: all-in-one Intravital Microscope (IVM) system and associated components.

STATEMENT OF NEED:

The primary objective of this contract is to acquire an IVM-CMS Platform, a ‘turn-key’ All-in-One intravital imaging system specifically designed and optimized for imaging tissues and organs in live animals at the cellular and subcellular level in real-time. The platform integrates specialized hardware (confocal / two-photon microscopy lasers, motion compensation) and software (IVM Engine and Studio) for high-resolution, long-term imaging in a wide range of tissues and organs. The IVM-CMS incorporates essential functionalities for intravital imaging that are fully integrated into the All-in-One system and designed with ease of operation by the end user.

The NIEHS requires an advanced intravital imaging capability to support ongoing and emerging research programs that investigate cellular and subcellular processes in living animals. The requested IVM-CMS Platform is a turnkey, all-in-one intravital imaging system specifically designed and optimized for real-time imaging of tissues and organs in intact living animals at the cellular and subcellular levels. The NIEHS requires an IVM-CMS platform to support ongoing and future research using a non-invasive and high-resolution intravital imaging approach that will provide invaluable insights into cellular behavior, interactions, and responses to stimuli in their natural, physiological context. This will enhance the opportunity to study complex biological mechanisms, such as disease progression, immune responses, developmental processes and drug interventions. Acquisition of the IVM-CMS platform will significantly expand NIEHS's ability to study biological processes in their native physiological context. By enabling researchers to directly visualize dynamic cellular and subcellular events in living animals, the platform will provide information that cannot be obtained through conventional static imaging or ex vivo approaches alone.

The IVM-CMS platform provides a powerful tool to better understand biology of cell processes in a more physiological context. The IVM-CMS system employs temporary and permanent window chambers embedded within the tissue and organ of interest to observe and analyze dynamic biological processes in real-time within the intact living organism. The IVM-CMS system will provide a non-invasive and high-resolution approach for studying cellular behavior, interactions, and responses to stimuli in their natural, physiological context in the intact animal. This will enhance our opportunity to study complex biological mechanisms, such as disease progression, immune responses, developmental processes and drug interventions.

A key requirement is that the system provide an integrated, turnkey solution in which the specialized hardware, imaging modalities, motion compensation, acquisition capabilities, and dedicated software are designed to operate together as a complete intravital imaging platform. This integrated configuration will facilitate consistent operation and reduce the need to assemble and optimize disparate components from multiple systems. The system's user-oriented design will also support efficient adoption and use by investigators conducting diverse intravital imaging studies.

Period of Performance: To be installed once purchased with warranty to be extend over a three year period.

Place of Performance: NIEHS, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

The Contractor shall provide all resources necessary to accomplish the tasks and deliverables described in this Statement of Work (SOW). Subject to prior approval of the Contracting Officer (CO), the Contractor may acquire the services of a subcontractor and/or consultants to provide specialized services if deemed appropriate and within scope by the COR.

The Contractor shall employ a technical approach, utilize organizational resources, and implement management controls to achieve the cost, schedule, and performance requirements throughout the execution of the Contract Requirements. The Contractor shall be responsible for providing, managing, and overseeing its personnel, as well as any subcontractor/consultant efforts used in the performance of the Contract Requirements.

This is intended to be a firm-fixed price contract.

Capability Statement Small business concerns that believe they possess the capabilities necessary to undertake this work should submit complete documentation of their capabilities to the Contracting Officer. The capability statement should include 1)Name and address of the vendor, 2) Size and type of business, 3) Point of contact with the name, title, phone, fax, and email, 4) UEI number. 5) the professional qualifications of experts, and technical personnel as it relates to the above outlined requirements, any other information considered relevant to this service. The capability statement must not exceed 7 pages. Interested small business organizations are required to identify their size standards in accordance with the Small Business Administration. The government requests that no proprietary or confidential business data be submitted 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 numbers 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 solicitation notice number.

Point of Contact:

Luz Casey, Program Specialist, Office of the Director, OD, Luz.Casey@nih.gov.

Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, Office of Acquisition, Office of the Director, 6701 Rockledge Dr., Rm 537-S, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA Submission Instructions:

Interested parties shall submit capability statements via email to Luz Casey at Luz.Casey@nih.gov. Due Tuesday, September 9, 2026 @ 9:00 am EST.

All responses must be received by the specified due date and time in order to be considered.

This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in the response. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your 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 provide the item. 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 review of the responses received, pre-solicitation and solicitation notices will be published in GSA eBuy or SAM.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.