Evaluating Improved Knee-Save device in Deep Squatting Tasks
Closed Solicitation Posted
- Solicitation number
- 75D301-26-Q-79163
- Agency
- CDC Office of Acquisition Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services
- Responses due
- Set-aside
- No set-aside
Opportunity facts
- NAICS code
- 611310 Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools
- PSC
- R499 Support- Professional: Other
- Place of performance
- United States
- Points of contact
-
- Paula Taylor vga8@cdc.gov (770) 488-8433
Notice details come from SAM.gov. Updated .
About this opportunity
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health seeks evaluation services for improved knee-saver devices in deep squatting tasks, with quotations due August 10, 2026, and questions due August 4, 2026. No set-aside applies.
Place of performance is the United States. The work spans September 16, 2026, through September 15, 2027, and comprises three firm fixed-price line items: development of an IRB-approved testing protocol (deliverable November 15, 2026); pilot testing with 8–9 human subjects and biomechanical data collection including kinematics, kinetics, and electromyography (deliverable May 28, 2027); and comprehensive documentation including the testing protocol, processed experimental data in CSV or Excel format, data processing methodology, and a final technical report (deliverable September 15, 2027). The contractor must demonstrate expertise in ergonomics, biomechanics, and musculoskeletal mechanics, with experience in occupational biomechanical evaluations. All personally identifiable information must be stored securely in paper format only and remain inaccessible to NIOSH staff. The NAICS code is 611310, Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; PSC is R499, Support—Professional: Other. Quotations must be submitted in three volumes: Technical (10 pages for approach, 6 pages for staffing plan with 2-page resume limit per person, 12 pages for management plan, 4 pages for transition plan), Past Performance/Experience (3 pages demonstrating three relevant projects completed within five years), and Price (no page limit). Award will be made on a best-value basis.
Notice text
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic disease that affects 32.5 million people in the US. The prevalence of knee OA among adults over 60 years is approximately 10% (men) and 13% (women). Epidemiological studies showed that the prevalence of knee OA among workers is associated with their occupational activities. In many occupational activities, such as floor installation, electrical repairs and installations, roofing, retail stocking, gardening, and construction repairs, workers need to perform high knee-flexion tasks. Occupations involving high knee flexion tasks for at least 30 minutes per day resulted in increases in knee OA occurrence from 122% to 240 %, compared to average workers. The prevalence of OA will continue to increase with the aging workforce and the increasing life expectancy.
Knee savers or knee supporters are devices that are attached to the users’ legs to make users feel more comfortable during high knee flexion tasks. Knee savers have been used to reduce knee joint loading in some sports and occupational activities, such as roofing; however, the mechanism of how or if knee savers can reduce joint loading during deep squatting has not been analyzed on a biomechanical basis and their designs may be improved. Currently, commercially available knee savers of one size/type are intended to be used for individuals with different ranges of motion (ROM) in the lower extremities and different body sizes.
NIOSH researchers are working on a NORA-funded project (Biomechanical Evaluation of Knee Savers for Reducing Joint Load during Squatting) to improve the knee saver design to reduce the knee joint loading, thereby reducing workers’ knee OA risk. NIOSH researchers will develop a biomechanical model to analyze the musculoskeletal loading in the knee joint and in the spine region during high knee flexion tasks such as deep squatting, validating the model using human subject testing data, and applying the biomechanical model to improve the knee saver design. The human subject testing data will be obtained from the proposed contract.
SECTION 2 – PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE
The objective of this service contract is to obtain the human biomechanical data required to develop biomechanical models of human deep squatting tasks with and without a knee-saver device. The experimental data shall be generated by the contractor through conducting a series of tests of different knee-saver devices in deep squatting tasks.
Attachments
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| RFQ 75D301-26-Q-79163.pdf |
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