SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- CMR Perfusion Series Image Registration and Analysis of Global and Local Myocardial Function
- Notice Date
- 9/13/2016
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- NAICS
- 541990
— All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
- 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-HL-2016-315-KMA
- Archive Date
- 10/4/2016
- Point of Contact
- Kevin Alvarez,
- E-Mail Address
-
kevin.alvarez@nih.gov
(kevin.alvarez@nih.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- INTRODUCTION THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NON-COMPETITIVE (NOTICE OF INTENT) SYNOPSIS TO AWARD A PURCHASE ORDER WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), Office of Acquisitions (OA), intends to negotiate and award a purchase order on a noncompetitive sole source basis to Corstem Inc. 667 Av Champagneur, Outremont, QC, H2V3P7, to procure contractor support for the development of Cardiac Magnetic Resonance (CMR) image processing, visualization, and quantification tools for the Advanced Cardiovascular Imaging Group within NHLBI's Division of Intramural Research. BACKGROUND Heart attacks are caused by the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, depriving cells of oxygen. The Advanced Cardiovascular Imaging Group focuses their research on understanding and intervening in this process of myocardial infarction and ischemia. They are actively involved in developing new imaging methods, in particular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technologies that can be used in the clinic. The new technologies are validated in pre-clinical and clinical studies, which generate another cycle of new imaging methods-a process that leads to improved understanding of myocardial ischemia and infarction and practical new imaging methods suitable for diagnostic imaging. The laboratory has also successfully moved new technologies into the clinical setting. For example, the lab developed new MRI methodologies that are more reliable than product-level pulse sequences, validated these methodologies in animal models, and translated them into patients. They have also worked on quantifying the extracellular volume fraction of myocardium, a measurement with potential to detect diffuse myocardial fibrosis; cardiac fibrosis is an early sign in many cardiomyopathies, and a method of detection could have great prognostic value. The laboratory has also been a leader in using cardiac MRI to understand the role of edema within the area at risk (AAR) of an acute myocardial infarction; comparing the AAR to actual infarct size offers an additional level of clinical information, as it shows the effectiveness of intervention strategies. Quantitative analysis of myocardial perfusion has recently documented that first-pass stress perfusion cardiac MRI scans can be quantified at a pixel level, which is equivalent to approximately 32 microliter volumes of myocardium. This resolution is more than an order of magnitude higher than currently possible by the physiological reference standard, microsphere methodology, and higher resolution than clinically available methods, which someday may enable much more nuanced patient diagnosis of coronary artery disease. These studies have benefited from new image acquisition methods and analysis techniques developed within the laboratory. PURPOSE The purpose of this acquisition is to procure contractor support for the development of Cardiac Magnetic Resonance (CMR) image processing, visualization, and quantification tools. The lab's current pixel-wise myocardial blood flow (MBF) quantification uses a dedicated arterial input function (AIF) image series to calibrate MBF estimates. This requires research MR imaging sequences and/or optimized acquisition protocols to control the linearity of MR signal intensity during the first-pass contrast passage. The lab aims to develop a potentially interesting remedy to this issue by computing myocardial perfusion reserve (MPR) maps automatically. The goal is to alleviate the demand for manual segmentation and registration of stress and rest MBF maps to compute the MPR measurement. Furthermore, such MPR map can also overcome the limitation in overestimated stress and rest MBF maps since such overestimation can be effectively cancelled and normalized with the ratio calculation. The main engineering challenge is thus to register the anatomical structures present in the dynamic rest and rest series together at a pixel or sub-pixel accuracy. JUSTIFICATION The sole source determination is based on the fact that this is a follow-on to an existing contract and Corstem Inc. is currently providing these services. Due to their specific experience and expertise with the projects outlined above, only Corstem would be able to complete any significant fraction of the work within the project interval. If another contractor were to take over, there would not only be a lapse in services in order to train the new contractor on the processes and procedures of the lab, but there would be an expensive and duplicative investment in analysis, training, and implementation. This loss of productivity and substantial duplication of costs is unacceptable to the Government. REGULATORY AUTHORITY This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Subpart 13.106-1(b), soliciting from a single source (for purchases not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold) and only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Industry Classification (NAICS) Code is 541990, All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services, and the Small Business Size Standard is $15.0 million. The acquisition is being conducted under FAR Part 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures, therefore the requirements of FAR Part 6, Competitive Requirements, are not applicable (FAR Part 6.001). The resultant award will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 05-89 (August 15th, 2016). This synopsis is not a request for competitive proposals. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this notice. Responses to this notice shall contain sufficient information to establish the interested parties' bona-fide capabilities for fulfilling the requirement and include: unit price, list price, shipping and handling costs, the delivery period after contract award, the prompt payment discount terms, the F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), the Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.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. The information received will normally be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to proceed on a non-competitive basis or to conduct a competitive procurement. All responses must be received by September 19, 2016 at 9:00AM EST and must reference synopsis number NHLBI-CSB-HL-2016-315-KMA. Responses shall be submitted to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Office of Acquisitions, COAC Services Branch, 6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 6127, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-7902, Attention: Kevin Alvarez. Responses may be submitted electronically to kevin.alvarez@nih.gov. Faxes will not be accepted. Responses will only be accepted if dated and signed by an authorized company representative. "All responsible sources may submit a bid, proposal, or quotation which shall be considered by the agency."
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