SOURCES SOUGHT
66 -- Multi-Channel, Multi-Nuclear RF Array Coils for Human Brain Spectroscopy at 7 Tesla
- Notice Date
- 7/18/2014
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 423450
— Medical, Dental, and Hospital Equipment and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Station Support/Simplified Acquisitions, 31 Center Drive, Room 1B59, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892
- ZIP Code
- 20892
- Solicitation Number
- HHS-NIH-NIDA(SSSA)-SBSS-14-475
- Archive Date
- 8/9/2014
- Point of Contact
- Farrin Stanton,
- E-Mail Address
-
farrin.stanton@nih.gov
(farrin.stanton@nih.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- INTRODUCTION This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources, (2) whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses, service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; and (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. This notice is issued to help determine the availability of qualified companies technically capable of meeting the Government requirement and to determine the method of acquisition. It is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotes. No award will be made as a result of this notice. The Government will NOT be responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents to this notice. The notice is strictly for research and information purposes only. The information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a small business social-economic set-aside, competitive or non-competitive method is possible, and to determine the availability of qualified companies technically capable of meeting the Government's requirement. ALL organizations with the capability and availability to perform the requirement under the applicable NAICS code are invited to submit a response to this notice. NORTH AMERICAN CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE 423450 Laboratory equipment, dental and medical, merchant wholesalers Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) Core Facility at NIMH has been working on 13C MRS on human brain for many years and has developed unconventional approaches to measure 13C metabolites in human brain on high field (3T and 7T) MRI scanners. However, all existing 13C MRS human studies were performed with a single radio frequency (RF) coil. Signal-to-noise (SNR) and special localization of detected 13C signal are greatly limited. Recently, we have developed a new method which utilizes multiple receive coils to spatially localize the regional signal and to enhance spectral SNR. This approach has been validated with in vivo proton spectroscopy at 7T. To implement the new method on 13C MRS at 7T, we have to develop a whole hardware setup for multi-channel 13C transmit and receive coils because the manufacture of MRI scanners does not provide hardware support for this kind of research application. The objective is to design and build an RF coil assembly which consists of (1) a proton volume transmit and receive coil, (2) a 13C volume transmit coil, (3) an array of 13C surface receive coils, and (4) an interface box to connect the coil assembly to Siemens 7T scanner. The contractor shall provide the hardware devices outlined in the previous paragraph. The contractor shall independently perform the following tasks. · Perform accurate numerical simulation on coil design with anatomical human models to obtain optimum design which provides more homogenous magnetic field distribution and higher signal-to-noise ratio; · Perform RF safety evaluation using the numerical simulation results following FDA MRI safety guidelines. · Design and build a Siemens coil interface box to connect the coil assembly to the Siemens 7T scanner; · Design and fabrication of electrical circuits for a multi-channel, multi-nuclear phased array coil assembly for the Siemens 7T scanner. It should contain (1) a volume proton transmit and receive coil, (2) a volume 13 C transmit coil, (3) a multi-channel 13 C receive array coil, and (4) an interface box to control transmit and receive coils. · Perform system tests on the hardware devices. The tests may include: à System compatibility tests to make sure the electronic interface functions properly. à Imaging and spectroscopy tests to evaluate image quality and signal-to-noise ratio à RF safety tests to make sure that the actual experiments performed using the coil assembly complies with FDA MRI safety guidelines Description of Tasks and Associated Deliverables: • Provide a result on numerical simulation for optimum coil design • Provide a result on numerical simulation for RF safety evaluation of the coil design • Build an interface box to connect the coil assembly to the 7T scanner • Design and fabrication of electrical circuits for a multi-channel, multi-nuclear phased array coil assembly for the Siemens 7T scanner. It should contain (1) a volume proton transmit and receive coil, (2) a volume 13C transmit coil, and (3) a multi-channel 13C receive array coil • Perform system tests on the hardware devices to make sure they work as designs CAPABILITY STATEMENT INFORMATION SOUGHT Respondents must provide, as part of their responses, clear and convincing documentation of their capability of providing the item(s) specified in this notice. Contractors that believe they possess the ability to provide the required must submit specific documentation of their ability to meet each of the project requirements to the Contract Specialist. Contractors must provide their Company Name, DUNS number, Physical Address, and Point of Contact Information. Interested organizations are required to identify their type of business, applicable North American Industry Classification System Code, and 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 number 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. All capability statements sent in response to this Sources Sought Notice must be submitted electronically (via email) to Farrin Stanton, Contract Specialist, at Farrin.Stanton@nih.gov in MS Word format by or before the closing date of this announcement. All responses must be received by the specified due date and time in order to be considered. The response must be received on or before July 25, 2014 4:00pm, eastern time. CONCLUDING STATEMENTS Note: 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 perform the work. 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 may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. The solicitation release date is pending. The Government intends to negotiate a fixed-price purchase order. Confidentiality. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/HHS/NIH/NIDA-2/HHS-NIH-NIDA(SSSA)-SBSS-14-475/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: NIMH, Bldg 49 Rm B1C72, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, United States
- Zip Code: 20892
- Zip Code: 20892
- Record
- SN03430004-W 20140720/140718234539-4e7191436ed2ba5025bc822a8dd3a2ea (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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