2. Title: Inverted Confocal Microscope with Multiphoton Capabilities

3. Contracting Office Address:
National Institutes of Health, NHLBI
6701 Rockledge Drive
Bethesda, MD 20892

4. 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. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this notice."

5. Background: The National Institute of Health (NIH) is the nation's leading medical research agency and the primary Federal agency conducting, supporting and making medical discoveries that improve people's health and save lives. The Laboratory of Cell and Developmental Biology, at the NIDCR, performs research to characterize numerous processes in cell biology using fluorescent proteins to understand normal and defective embryonic development, organ formation, as well as cell migration. Multiple sections in the Laboratory of Cell and Developmental Biology currently perform research characterizing dynamic processes involving salivary gland development, Drosophila development and protein secretion, single cell migration, tumor invasion, and bone and cartilage formation. All of these studies require imaging live samples as organ cultures or within native extracellular matrices in multiple planes in three dimensions on an inverted microscope. The Laboratory's imaging capabilities have reached their limit, and these researchers now require at least two-fold higher detector sensitivity and more than five-fold increased speed of imaging in three dimensions in order to avoid sample phototoxicity when performing long-term experiments and imaging entire organs, neither of which is possible with their existing confocal microscopes. Many experiments cannot be performed with the current point-scanning confocals because of these issues, so a much faster, high-sensitivity imaging system is needed.

6. Purpose and Objectives: Procure an Inverted Confocal Microscope that is upgrade-ready for multiphoton microscopy that meets the imaging requirements for biological research by scientists in the NIDCR Laboratory of Cell and Developmental Biology in order to avoid phototoxicity in long term experiments and perform experiments previously restricted due to lower tech equipment. Brand name is applicable.

A. Delivery Date: Twelve (12) weeks after receipt of order

B. Delivery Location:
    National Institutes of Health, NIDCR
    30 Convent Drive
    Bethesda, MD 20892

7. Project Requirements:

The Contractor shall provide a Nikon A1R Inverted Confocal Multiphoton ready Microscope consisting of the following components:

• A1-SHRM A1 R MP 1080
• A1-DU4G DECT W/ 2 GAASP; 2 PMT
• 57,000.00 26.30 42,009.00
• A1-DUT TRANSMISSION DETECTOR
• A1-DUT-TI MOUNTING ADAPTER
• TI-E INVERTED MICROSCOPE
• A1 ADAPTER SET FOR TI
• A1 TI INTERLOCK CABLE
• TI LASER SAFETY KIT
• LU-N4 LASER UNIT 405/488/561/640
• LU CCA CONFOCAL LU CONTROLLER A
• LU-A1-A- A1 CONNECTION KIT
• TI-HUBC/A HUB CONTROLLER A
• TI-AC120 POWER CORD 120V
• USB 2.0 A-B DEVICE CABLE 15'
• TI-DH DIA PILLAR ILLUMINATOR 100W
• HALOGEN LAMP 12V-100W L.L.
• TI-PS100W/A POWER SUPPLY 100-240V
• FILTER 45MM NCB11
• FILTER 45MM GIF
• TI-100WRC 100W LAMPHOUSE REMOTE CABLE
• TI-TD EYEPIECE TUBE D
• TI-T-B EYEPIECE BASE UNIT
• TI-C SYSTEM CONDENSER TURRET
• TMD2 SYSTEM CON DUMMY CAP / Quantity 3
• TI-C-LWD LWD LENS UNIT F/SYS COND TURRET
• T-P2 DIC POLARIZER
• TI-A ANALYZER BLOCK
• T-C DIC MODULE LWD N2 DRY
• D-C DIC SLIDER 20X
• D-C DIC SLIDER 40X II
• D-C DIC SLIDER 60X II
• CFI PLAN APO 10X NA 0.45 WD 4MM
• CFI PLAN APO VC 20X NA 0.75 WD 1MM
• CFI PLAN FLUOR 40X OIL NA1.30 WD 0.20MM
• CFI PLAN APO LAMBDA 60X OIL
• TI-S-ER MOTORIZED STAGE WITH ENCODERS
• TI-S-C MOTORIZED STAGE CONTROLLER
• TI-S-EJOY JOYSTICK FOR MOTORIZED STAGE
• TI-SH UNIVERSAL HOLDER F/MOTOR STAGE
• TI-FLC-E MOTORIZED EPI-FL FILTER TURRET
• C-FL DAPI HC HISN ZERO SHIFT
• C-FL GFP HC HISN ZERO SHIFT
• C-FL DS RED HC HISN ZERO SHIFT
• 64BIT Z620 64GB, 1TB OS/3TB DATA DR WIN7
• NIS-ELEMENTS CONFOCAL PKG
• VM617A4 ZR30W 30" LCD DISPLAY
• TI-FL EPI-FL ILLUMINATOR
• C-HGFIE INTENSILIGHT HG ILLUMINATOR MTRZ
• C-HGF-IF15 HG FIBER 1500MM LLG
• C-HGF IE-C HG CONTROLLER INTENSILIGHT
• C-LHGF I HG INTENSILIGHT LAMP
• POWER CORD (LEAD FREE UL LISTED). / Quantity 3
• TI SHUTTER TRIGGER CABLE/HGFIE
• TI-AC/B AC ADAPTER FOR HUBC/A&B
• D-LH/LC PRECENTERED LAMPHOUSE W/ LC-NC
• CFI 10X EYEPIECE F.N. 22MM-NC / Quantity 2
• C-HGFIB HG 100W ADAPTER R-NC
• TI-ND6-PFS PERFECT FOCUS MOTOR NOSEPIECE
* Shipping
* 1 year electrical warranty
* 5 year mechanical warranty

8. Other considerations:

A. The system must be multiphoton ready (meaning the system should be able to accept a non-linear multi-photon laser beam without further modifications to the confocal scan head).

B. The system must be an inverted, automated research-quality microscope with the following specifications: 1) equipped with a laser-based autofocus, 2) automated XY-stage with the possibility of adding a Z-piezo, and 3) have left and right side ports for future addition of imaging accessories, such additional cameras or detectors.

C. The system must be equipped with 4 lasers, all diode-based, with the following wavelengths: 405nm, 488nm, 561nm, and 640nm.

D. The laser launch must include dichroics that are embedded within a polymer and require no realignment over time.

E. The system must be upgradable to automated TIRF (total internal reflection microscopy) on the same system.

F. The scanning system must consist of two sets of XY scanning mirrors: 1) a standard galvometric mirror set (with at least 4096x4096 resolution and 2 fps at 512x512), and 2) a second resonant galvometric mirror set that runs at a minimum of 7 kHz in X (to permit 30 frames per second at 512x512 resolution and 420 frames per second at 512x32).

G. It must be a point scanner to achieve high confocality and permit multi-photon use.

H. The scanning system must allow for simultaneous photoactivation or photobleaching by using a dual scanning system (see requirement F).

I. The system must be equipped with a minimum of 2 high-sensitivity GaAsP detectors for maximum light sensitivity at visible wavelengths, two other fluorescence PMTs (photomultiplier tube detectors) and a transmitted light PMT.

9. Capability Statement /Information: Interested parties are expected to review this notice to familiarize itself with the requirements of this project. Failure to do so will be at your firm's own risk. The following information shall be included in the capability statement:

A. A general overview of the respondents' opinions about the difficulty and /or feasibility of the potential requirement, and any information regarding innovative ideas or concepts.

B. Information in sufficient details of the respondents' (a) staff expertise, including their availability, experience, and formal and other training; (b) current in-house capability and capacity to perform the work; (c) prior completed projects of similar nature; (d) corporate experience and management capability; and (e) examples of prior completed Government contracts, references, and other related information.

C. The respondents' DUNS number, organization name, address, point of contact, and size and type of business (e.g., 8(a), HUBZone, etc) pursuant to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code: 333314 Optical Instrument and Lens Manufacturing, small business size standard is $19M.

D. Any other information that may be helpful in developing or finalizing the requirements of the potential acquisition.

E. The capability statement shall not exceed 20 single-sided pages (including all attachments, resumes, charts, etc.) presented in single-space and using a 12-point font size minimum, in either Microsoft Word or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), with 8-1/2 by 11 inch paper size, and 1 inch top, bottom, left and right margins.

F. All proprietary information should be marked as such. Statements should also include an indication of current certified small business status; this indication should be clearly marked on the first page of your capability statement (preferably placed under the eligible small business concern's name and address). Responses will be reviewed only by NIH personnel and will be held in a confidential manner.

10. Information submission instructions

A. The capability statement should be submitted electronically (via email) to Kyle Wisor, Contract Specialist, at [email protected], Sources Sought Solicitation Number: HHS-NIH-NHLBI-CSB-(DE)-SBSS-2014-163-KEW on July 17th, 2014 9:30 AM, Eastern Standard Time(EST). All responses must be received by the specified due date and time in order to be considered.

B. This Small Business Sources Sought Notice (SBSS) is for information and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

C. The NHLBI does not intend to award a contract on the basis of responses nor otherwise pay for the preparation of any information submitted. As a result of this notice, the NHLBI may issue a Request for Quote (RFQ).

D. THERE IS NO SOLICITATION AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME. However, should such a requirement materialize, no basis for claims against NHLBI shall arise as a result of a response to this notice or the NHLBI's use of such information as either part of our evaluation process or in developing specifications for any subsequent requirement.

11. Closing statement

A. "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.

B. 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)."