SOLICITATION NOTICE
66 -- Direct Electron Detection Camera
- Notice Date
- 7/26/2011
- Notice Type
- Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
- NAICS
- 334516
— Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Rockledge Dr. Bethesda, MD, Office of Acquisitions, 6701 Rockledge Dr RKL2/6100 MSC 7902, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892-7902
- ZIP Code
- 20892-7902
- Solicitation Number
- NHLBI-CSB-(AR)-2011-275-CRS
- Archive Date
- 8/19/2011
- Point of Contact
- Caitlin Savina,
- E-Mail Address
-
savinacr@nhlbi.nih.gov
(savinacr@nhlbi.nih.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Reference Number: NHLBI-CSB-(AR)-2011-275-CRS Title: Direct Electron Detection Camera THIS IS A COMBINED SYNOPSIS / SOLICITATION NOTICE. This is a combined synopsis / solicitation for commercial items, prepared in accordance with the format of FAR 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotes are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. The reference solicitation number is: NHLBI-CSB-(AR)-2011-275-CRS. This solicitation is issued as a request for quotation (RFQ). This acquisition is being conducted under the procedures in accordance with FAR 13.3 Simplified Acquisition Methods, and FAR Part 13.5 - Test Program for Certain Commercial Items. The resultant purchase order will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular 05-53 July 05, 2011. The total contracted dollar amount, including options will not exceed $5 million. The acquisition is being conducted as Full and Open Competition. The North American Classification System (NAICS) code applicable to this requirement is 334516, and the associated small business size standard is 500 Employees. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), Office of Acquisitions (OA), on behalf of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), intends to award a single, fixed priced contract for the purchase of the Direct Electron Detection Camera. Background Since its inception, the Laboratory of Structural Biology Research (LSBR) has specialized in detailed structural analysis of macromolecules, macromolecular complexes, and subcellular structures by computer-enhanced electron microscopy. The goal of these studies is to elucidate structure-function relationships at the molecular level with particular emphasis on (but not restricted to) systems that bear directly on the mission of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS). This program was initiated in 1978 with the appointment of a tenure-track investigator, and progressed to become a Section in 1984- and further to Laboratory status in 1990. A typical research project involves recording electron micrographs of the highest possible quality, subjecting them to digital image analysis to elicit the maximum amount of structural information, and interpretation, taking into account all pertinent complementary data. In this context, the LSBR has performed ground-breaking studies on cytoskeletal filaments, virus particles and antigens, and complex enzymes among other important biomedical specimens. The results achieved depend both on the quality of the primary data (electron microscope images) and the scope of computer analysis. Cryo-electron microscopy - the technique of visualizing organic specimens suspended in vitreous ice - was introduced in the 1980s and has revolutionized what is achievable. The LSBR has been to the fore in these advances and in 1997 accomplished the landmark result of extending the resolution on isolated complexes below 1 nanometer for the first time. In order to maintain the LSBR program at the cutting-edge of this research field, it is necessary to periodically upgrade the hardware used in the lab. Purpose Specifically, a major technical advance has been made with the recent introduction of large-format digital camera of much greater sensitivity and electron-collecting efficiency than was achieved in the previous generation of these instruments. Thus, the LSBR is in need of a 4k x 4k direct electron detection camera for capturing electron micrographs. Recent developments in electron microscope cameras have made direct electron detection a reality. With the elimination of the scintillator, the electron-to-light conversion layer necessary in typical CCD cameras, direct detection cameras promise unprecedented sensitivity and resolution. With the advent of this new technology, the prospect of recording low-dose, high-resolution electron micrographs digitally rather than on traditional film are becoming a reality. The lab will also benefit from a reduced need for silver-based photochemistry and a decreased dependence on EM film, which has become pricier and harder to obtain in recent years. Since the images recorded on such a device will be in a digital format, the time-consuming step of digitalizing (scanning) electron micrographs, as is currently done with traditional film, will be eliminated. Specifications of the Direct Electron Detection Camera: 1. Must be compatible with a JEOL JEM 2200FS transmission electron microscope and capable of operating at electron energies up to 200keV. 2. Must be a direct electron detection camera with a back-thinned CMOS sensor of ~ 4k x 4k pixel format and allow direct acquisition of digital data under low dose (0.5 - 20 e-/Å2 at the specimen) conditions. 3. The camera must be compatible with JEOL JEM 2200FS low dose data acquisition software with automatic beam blanking for the acquisition of both high-resolution cryo-EM images and tomographic tilt series of frozen, hydrated biological specimens using phase plates and zero-loss energy filtering. 4. Continuous full-frame read-out of 400 frames per second (fps) or greater in order to operate in electron counting mode, in which an image is constructed from the information in the images of individual incident electron events. 5. Must include all electronic and computational hardware and software necessary for inline event processing for single electron discrimination and ~ 8k x 8k sub-pixel centroiding at a rate of 400 fps * 4k x 4k pixels/sec (6.4 Gpixels/sec) or greater. 6. Camera performance [200 kV, Integrating Mode, where Nyquist is the outermost (highest resolution) spatial frequency sampled in the Fourier transform of the image]: Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) at 0.5 Nyquist ≥ 0.14, Detective Quantum Efficiency (DQE) at 0.5 Nyquist ≥ 0.22 7. Sensor must be of a radiation-hardened design such that the camera performance criteria of MTF ≥ 0.14 and DQE ≥ 0.22 (measured at 0.5 Nyquist for 200kV electrons) is maintained for a total cumulative sensor dose of at least 5 billion electrons/pixel. 8. Software shall be provided for camera control, image acquisition and image processing (e.g. DigitalMicrograph). The provided software should allow users to write programs, such as scripts, for the customization of camera control, image acquisition and image processing to accommodate user-specific applications. 9. The camera and associated software must be compatible with third party acquisition software such as SerialEM (D.N. Mastronarde, 2005. J. Struct. Biol. 152:36-51) and all modes of camera operation must be accessible to third party software. 10. Must be Peltier cooled with a sensor temperature of -20°C or lower to reduce dark current. 11. Must have flexible sub-area readout, and support x2, x3, x4, x6 and x8 binning. 12. Must be on-axis, bottom mounted, and retractable and must accommodate future mounting of a Gatan US1000 CCD below the direct detector housing. 13. Must automatically retract whenever the microscope camera chamber is about to be vented. 14. The system shall include a secondary, 11 Mpixel or larger, CCD camera capable of ≥14 frames per second for routine work such as searching and focusing. 15. Air, water, and electronic interface hardware for connecting the pneumatic insertion and extraction of the detector, water-cooling of electronics, and electronic and optical interfacing must be standard and included in the price of the camera. 16. Installation and on-site training of at least 3 days shall be provided by service engineers specifically qualified in the installation and use of this camera. 17. Vendor must disconnect and remove a Gatan Model 795 MSC CCD camera as trade in for ≥$10,000 credit. 18. Warranty. The contractor warrants the instrument and all associated hardware, software, accessories and components for a period of at least two years. During this period, any and all upgrades to these items will be provided and installed free of charge. The award will be made to the Offeror whose product meets the Government's minimum performance specifications, functional specifications, and delivery date. A best buy analysis will be performed taking into consideration price, shipping points, technical specifications, special features, trade-in considerations, probable life of the item selected as compared with that of a comparable item, warranty considerations, maintenance availability, environmental and energy efficiency considerations, delivery terms, and past performance. In addition to a price quote, the Offeror must submit descriptive literature of the product proposed, a commercial price list, warranty provisions, and any other information the Offeror considers relevant to the Government's evaluation of the product proposed. The Government intends to evaluate the quotes and award the purchase order without discussion with Offerors. Therefore, the initial offer should contain the Offerors best terms for a technical and price standpoint. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions, request product samples or demonstrations, if later determined by the Contracting Officer to be necessary. The Government may reject any and all offers if such action is deemed necessary. The Government may also waive informalities and minor irregularities in the offers received. NOTE: The Offeror must be registered in the Government's Central Contractor Registry (CCR) System, which is available at www.ccr.gov, in order to receive an award from the NIH, NHLBI. FAR provisions and clauses that apply to this acquisition are: FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items (JUN 2008); FAR 52.212-2 Evaluation - Commercial Items (JAN 1999); FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications - Commercial Items (MAY 2011); FAR 212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions - Commercial Items (JUN 2010); FAR 52-212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statues or Executive Orders - Commercial Items (MAY 2011) is included with the following additional clauses: FAR 52.232-33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer - Central Contractor Registration (OCT2003); and FAR 52.204-7, Central Contractor Registration (APR2008). The clauses are available in full text at http://www.arnet.gov/far. Quotations will be due ten (10) calendar days from the publication date of this synopsis or by August 04, 2011 9:00am, Eastern Standard Time. The quotation must reference Solicitation Number NHLBI-CSB-(AR)-2011-275-CRS. All responsible sources may submit a quotation/proposal, which if timely received, shall be considered by the agency. Interested vendors capable of furnishing the government with the item specified in this synopsis should submit their quotation to the below address. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 6701 Rockledge Blvd., Room Suite 6150B, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, Attention: Caitlin Savina. Emails will be accepted at savinacr@nhlbi.nih.gov.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/HHS/NIH/NHLBI/NHLBI-CSB-(AR)-2011-275-CRS/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, United States
- Zip Code: 20892
- Zip Code: 20892
- Record
- SN02511150-W 20110728/110726235636-c9b886041560a056d5884b47f6d07a83 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |