SOURCES SOUGHT
66 -- Photon Microscope - Attachment 1 - Microscope Specification
- Notice Date
- 5/4/2015
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 334516
— Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Office of Acquisitions, Office of Management, 530 Davis Drive, Durham, North Carolina, 27713, United States
- ZIP Code
- 27713
- Solicitation Number
- NIHES2015051
- Archive Date
- 5/11/2015
- Point of Contact
- Onyenauché Washington, Phone: (919) 541-0423
- E-Mail Address
-
uche.washington@nih.gov
(uche.washington@nih.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Attachment 1 - Microscope Specification This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) availability of competition; (2) the capability of qualified small business concerns; 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. BACKGROUND: The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), located in the Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, is one of the 27 Institutes and Centers composing the National Institutes of Health. The NIEHS is home to the National Toxicology Program (NTP), a Health & Human Services (HHS) interagency program dedicated to testing and evaluating substances in our environment. The program was created as a cooperative effort to coordinate toxicology testing programs within the federal government; strengthen the science base in toxicology; strengthen the science base in toxicology; develop and validate improved testing methods; and provide information about potentially toxic chemicals. The audiences for these efforts are the health, regulatory, and research agencies, scientific and medical communities, and the public. PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES: The Neural Circuits Group of the Neurobiology Laboratory at the NIEHS will be conducting numerous studies in which a 2-photon microscope is required to visualize the activity and morphology of fluorescently labeled neurons in vivo. In addition to imaging, the use of micromanipulators will be required for the fine scale movement of electrodes while imaging. • The Neural Circuits Group has several upcoming needs: o Imaging cohorts of neurons in the intact mouse brain that are labeled by up to four fluorophores/dyes. o Photo-activating neurons expressing channelrhodopsin2 in vivo. o Determining the physiological response of neurons in vivo and in vitro using calcium imaging and recording electrodes. • The Microscope must be capable of performing the following: o Imaging 4 fluorophores is essential. Imaging sessions will often be set to run overnight and lab personnel is unavailable overnight to change filters if a scope with less than 4 PMT's is procured. o Rapidly turning off the photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) during optogenetic stimulation to prevent saturation of the PMTs during scanning is necessary for photo-stimulation studies. A saturated PMT needs to be turned off and reset and is not permissible within the time scale of the studies. o Rapidly acquiring frames to allow calcium imaging is essential to capturing the responses of neurons to sensory stimuli. Neurological events occur on the sub-second scale. Slower acquisition times would reduce the group's ability to detect these events. o Moving the angle and xyz axes of the objective is another necessary feature. Moving the specimen is not an option for the studies because the specimen will have recording electrodes delicately implanted in its brain. o Perform multiple whole cell recordings at once (i.e., two (2) micromanipulators allow for only two (2) connections between neurons at the same time, while four (4) manipulators allows for testing twelve (12) connections at the same time. In order to fit more manipulators around the sample at once, the microphones must be both narrow and extremely stable. See Attachment 1 - Microscope Specifications for details. ANTICIPATED DELIVERY DATE: It is expected that delivery will be approximately three (3) months after receipt of order. NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE: The intended procurement will be classified under the NAICS code 334516; Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing with a size standard of 500 employees. ANTICIPATED CONTRACT TYPE: The anticipated contract type will be a firm-fixed price contract type. DELIVERY LOCATION: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Building 101, 111 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709 CAPABILITY STATEMENT/INFORMATION SOUGHT: Capability statements should include the following information: - Company name and address; - Clear and convincing documentation of their capability of providing and ability to provide the item(s) specified in this notice; - Examples of prior completed Government contracts, references, and other related information; respondents' DUNS number, organization name, address, point of contact, size and type of business (e.g., 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); - Point of contact, including telephone number and email address for representative from interested business; - Do you have a GSA vehicle that could be utilized for these services? If yes, please provide the contract number and point of contact information 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). DISCLAIMER AND IMPORTANT NOTES: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in 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 a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. Interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement. The Government shall consider all responses received within fifteen days of this posting. A determination not to compete this requirement, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government. Written responses to this synopsis shall contain sufficient documentation to establish their capability to fulfill this requirement. NIEHS will not be responsible for any costs incurred by interested parties in responding to this notice. Please email, with the sources sought notice number in the subject line to the Contracting Officer listed below.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/HHS/NIH/NIEHS/NIHES2015051/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: See delivery location above., Morrisville, North Carolina, 27709, United States
- Zip Code: 27709
- Zip Code: 27709
- Record
- SN03719634-W 20150506/150504235307-a6a52d1f9407812a51a2b363f0cc488b (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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