Gatan Rio16 Camera for FE T20 electron microscope

This is a Notice of Intent, not a request for proposal.  The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) intends to negotiate on an other than full and open competition basis with Gatan Inc., 5794 W Las Positas BLVD Pleasanton, California 94588.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)’s Vaccine Research Center (VRC) has a Structural Biology Section (SBS) (collectively “Program”) that is engaged in research involving a structure-based approach for antibody and vaccine research aimed at combatting infectious diseases, including but not limited to HIV, malaria, flu, COVID-19 and RSV. An essential component of current and future research is structural analysis of pathogen proteins and antibodies isolated from patients and vaccinees using electron microscopy methods. Specifically, SBS and many other sections use the method of negative-stain electron microscopy (NS-EM) for fast structural screening of immunogen candidates and other proteins and protein complexes. One of the instruments used for NS-EM screening is the FEI T20 electron microscope located at NCI in Frederick. The T20 is currently equipped with an outdated Eagle CCD camera, which has a small 2048x2048 pixel sensor and suffers from low speed, low sensitivity and lack of drift correction. The speed of data collection is a crucial factor affecting the throughput of NS-EM protein screening and, by extension, vaccine research and development. Program needs a Gatan Rio16 CMOS camera to be installed on the FEI T20 electron microscope in order to update its outdated camera and give the equipment the capabilities to help Program continue its research.

The Gatan Rio16 has a large sensor (4096x4096 pixels), allowing to capture a large field of view in a single image. It is a 1:1 fiber optic coupled camera, which results in high sensitivity to incident electrons. The Gatan Rio16 is fast, with speeds up to 20 full-size images per second, which permits automatic built-in drift correction, improving the quality of images.  Importantly, the camera is fast enough for live imaging during specimen screening, which allows to bypass using the fluorescent screen of the electron microscope. The Gatan Rio16 comes with an easy-to-use, well-known Gatan Microscopy Suit software, which identical to the one running on the Krios which is being used by the lab. This is important for the consistency of the results and eliminates the necessity for an extensive training. The lab has previous performed research with Gatan equipment and needs to compare this existing data to the new data that will be acquired for new research. Getting the same Gatan equipment will reduce the number of variables introduced in the new research, while getting a different equipment may introduce variables that may prevent data from being compared.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has a requirement for the following:

1x Qty of #1816.B; Rio Camera (16 MP, Bottom Mount, 200 kV)

1x Qty of #1000.U2; GEN3 Camera Housing and Flange

1x Qty of #711.07861; Rio Computer (64-bit)

1x Qty of #700.LS.1816.00.64.1; Rio 16 Software Suite (64-bit)

1x Qty of #Rio.T; Rio Installation

Place of Performance or Delivery:

Delivery within three (3) months after receipt of order at Bethesda, MD 20892.

The statutory authority for this sole source requirement is 41 U.S.C. 1901 (a) (1) as implemented by FAR 13.106-1 only one responsible source and no other supply of service will satisfy agency requirements. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL.  All responsible sources that could provide the required may submit a capability statement that will be considered by email (subject line to reference NOI-NIAID-23-2176743) by 4:00 pm eastern standard time on August 12, 2023.  All responses received by the closing date of this synopsis will be considered by the Government.  A determination not to compete this requirement, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government.