SOLICITATION NOTICE
66 -- Nikon Ti-E Microscope
- Notice Date
- 6/29/2012
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- NAICS
- 333314
— Optical Instrument and Lens Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Office of Acquisitions, 6120 Executive Blvd., EPS Suite 600, Rockville, Maryland, 20852
- ZIP Code
- 20852
- Solicitation Number
- NCI-120096-MD
- Archive Date
- 7/31/2012
- Point of Contact
- Miguel Diaz, Phone: (301) 402-4509, Caren N Rasmussen, Phone: (301) 402-4509
- E-Mail Address
-
miguel.diaz@nih.gov, cr214i@nih.gov
(miguel.diaz@nih.gov, cr214i@nih.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Contracting Office Address Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Office of Acquisitions, 6120 Executive Boulevard, EPS Suite 600, Room 6079, Rockville, MD 20852, UNITED STATES. Description The National Cancer Institute (NCI), Center for Cancer Research (CCR), Laboratory of Pathology plans to procure on a sole source basis the brand name Nikon Ti-E Microscope from Nikon Instruments of 1300 Walt Whitman Rd. Melville, NY 11747. This acquisition will be processed in accordance with simplified acquisition procedures as stated in FAR Part 13.106-1(b)(1). The North American Industry Classification System Code is 333314 and the business size standard is 500 employees. Only one award will be made as a result of this solicitation. This will be awarded as a firm fixed price type contract. The National Cancer Institute (NCI), Center for Cancer Research (CCR), Laboratory of Pathology conducts all of the diagnostic anatomic pathology for all the patients entering and undergoing clinical trials in the NCI. The required microscope system will be used to generate a large amount of data that will form the basis for much of the research performed by the Systems Biology section in the NCI LP. The microscope system must meet or exceed the following specifications to satisfy the needs of the Systems Biology section of the NCI LP: 1. Imaging capabilities: A. The system must be an inverted microscope to enable growth of cells in living culture on the microscope stage. B. The microscope must have a filter wheel capable of supporting six different filter sets. C. The microscope should support multiple objective lenses, including 20x, 40x, and 60x magnification objectives. D. The microscope must have a motorized XY stage, and support the imaging of multiple XY positions within the same experiment. E. The stage must support various stage holders, including 96-well plate, 35-mm dish, and slide holders. F. The microscope must have motorized Z control, and allow for Z stacking. G. The system must be able to image multiple time points for each user-defined XYZ position. H. The system must enable slide scanning capabilities. I. The system must contain high-speed motorized control to enable several tens of positions, each with multiple wavelengths, to be imaged in less than 10 minutes. J. The system must include a high quality EMCCD camera that supports 1x1 and 2x2 binning of images. K. The system must support removable phase rings that allow for objectives with NAs of 1.40 - 1.49. L. The objectives must be nano-crystal coated for low reflectivity. M. The objectives must have high transmission from 400-1100 nm wavelengths. N. The objectives must have chromatic aberration correction from 435-850nm. 2. Long-term time-lapse capabilities: A. The system must have high-speed auto-focusing capable of maintaining stable, precise focus for multiple stage positions over several days. B. The auto-focusing system must be embedded in the microscope nosepiece to provide optimal stability and compatibility with microscope upgrades. C. The microscope stage must be enclosed within an environmental chamber that can support: • Constant temperature of 37 degrees Celsius; • 5% CO2 concentration; • and humidity between 30% and 80% D. The system must be supported on a structure that negates ambient vibrations. 3. Software considerations: A. All microscope components must be controlled by an automated software system. B. All digital images must be saved in industry standard TIFF/JPEG formats. C. The software must support user-defined macros or algorithms in addition to manufacturer supplied algorithms for image acquisition. D. The software must have multiple image analysis capabilities, including: the determination of pixel intensities over subregions of time lapse image stacks and image Z-stacks, a wide spectrum of mathematical morphology functions (clean, erode, dilate, open, close, smooth), morphologic separation functions, linear morphology functions, fill functions (fill holes, close holes), skeleton functions (medial axis, skeletonize, pruning), binary inversion, convex hulling, contouring, homotopic marking, and zones of influence identification. 4. Expansion considerations: A. The system must be expandable for a distance of up to 80mm between the microscope body and objectives to enable the addition of future hardware devices such as optical tweezers or extra illumination devices into the optical path without altering the main body of the microscope. B. The system must be flexible to support new objectives and filter sets. C. The system should have expansion ports to enable later upgrades for FRET imaging capabilities. The Nikon Ti-E with Perfect Focus System (PFS) is the only known system that can provide the NCI LP the ability to perform long-term time-lapse imaging of living samples for up to several days. The PFS will provide a highly sensitive means to ensure accurate focus of selected imaging positions over these several days. This autofocusing system is of extreme importance for long-term imaging experiments, and the Nikon PFS is the fastest and most stable system on the market. The Ti-E system in cooperation with Nikon Elements software supports the acquisition of images over multiple wavelengths of light, with high-speed motorized control in the XY plane, as well as Z-stacking capabilities. The Ti-E system supports enclosure of the stage within an environmental chamber capable of maintaining proper tissue culture conditions during image acquisition. The Nikon Stratum structure on the Ti-E is the only system on the market with an 80-mm distance of expansion between the microscope body and the objectives, allowing a large distance of expansion to support future hardware upgrades without alteration of the main body of the microscope. Nikon is the only manufacturer of systems that enable removable phase rings for objectives with numerical apertures (NA) in the 1.40 - 1.49 range. The Nikon objectives are the only available objectives that meet all requirements outlined previously. The Nikon Elements is the most economical software package available on the market that meets all image acquisition and analysis requirements. The fact that this software package is provided by the same manufacturer as the hardware provides easier and more reliable control over experiments. Additionally, previous data important for the experiments conducted by the Systems Biology section were obtained through the use of Nikon Ti-E microscope systems. To maintain consistency and scientific accuracy with these data, future microscopy experiments in this section must be performed on a Nikon Ti-E set-up. The Nikon Ti-E Microscope is the only known device to possess the unique characteristics essential to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Center for Cancer Research (CCR), Laboratory of Pathology's ongoing clinical and research operations. Nikon Instruments is the manufacturer and distributor of the Nikon Ti-E Microscope and only known source. This is not a solicitation for competitive quotations. However, if any interested party believes they can meet the above requirement, they may submit a statement of capabilities. All information furnished must be in writing and must contain sufficient detail to allow the NCI to determine if it can meet the above unique specifications described herein. An original and one copy of the capability statement must be received in the NCI Office of Acquisitions on or before 11:00 AM EST on July 16, 2011. No electronic capability statements will be accepted (i.e. email or fax); an original and one copy must be sent to the NCI Office of Acquisitions to the address stated above. All questions must be in writing and can be faxed (301) 402-4513 or emailed to Miguel Diaz, Contract Specialist at miguel.diaz@mail.nih.gov. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. In order to receive an award, contractors must have valid registration and certification in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) www.ccr.gov and the Online Representations and Certifications Applications (ORCA), http://orca.bpn.gov. No collect calls will be accepted. Please reference solicitation number NCI-120096-MD on all correspondences.
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