SOLICITATION NOTICE
66 -- Software Upgrade to a Government Owned Nova Dual Beam System
- Notice Date
- 8/13/2010
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- NAICS
- 334516
— Analytical Laboratory Instrument 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-100167-MM
- Archive Date
- 9/7/2010
- Point of Contact
- Melissa P Marino, Phone: 301-402-4509, Caren N Rasmussen, Phone: (301) 402-4509
- E-Mail Address
-
marinome@mail.nih.gov, cr214i@nih.gov
(marinome@mail.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 6072, Rockville, MD 20852, UNITED STATES. Description The National Cancer Institute (NCI), Center for Cancer Research (CCR), Laboratory of Cell Biology (LCB) plans to procure on a sole source basis a software upgrade to a government owned Nova Dual Beam System for High Throughput, Nanoscale 3D Imaging of Cells and Tissues from FEI Company, 5350 NE Dawson Creek Drive, Hillsboro, OR 97124-5793. This acquisition will be processed under FAR Part 12 - Acquisition for Commercial Items and will be made pursuant to the authority in FAR Part 13.106(b)(2) and 13.501-(a)(1) using simplified acquisition procedures for commercial acquisitions. The North American Industry Classification System code is 334516 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. Delivery Date: 60 days upon receipt of purchase order. There is a genuine need for technologies that can be used for rapid 3D imaging of large mammalian cells to provide information at nanometer resolution, since the availability of such methods will revolutionize an understanding of the cell and organelle function at the molecular level. Towards this goal, the NCI Laboratory of Cell Biology has been developing a strategy for 3D imaging of biological specimens which combines iterative removal of material from the surface of a bulk specimen using focused ion beam milling with imaging of the newly exposed surface using scanning electron microscopy. Using this technology, termed ion abrasion scanning electron microcopy (IA-SEM), the lab has shown that large mammalian cells can be rapidly imaged at resolutions of 20-nm in the z-direction (direction of section removal), and 6 nm in the x-y plane (plane of section removal). The Laboratory of Cell Biology requires a software upgrade to the government owned Nova Small Dual Beam System. The currently installed System provides a powerful tool for automated, high throughput, site-specific tissue imaging at resolutions good enough to visualize the subcellular architecture of cells and cell-cell contacts. This upgrade will significantly enhance capabilities for (i) localization of retroviruses such as HIV in cells and tissues, (iii) generation of tissue sections at room temperature and cryogenic temperatures using electronic rather than manual sectioning and (ii) complete automation of all steps in data acquisition. High resolution electron microscopic imaging holds the key to unlocking the answers to many seemingly intractable biological problems in cancer and HIV/AIDS research, including cell-cell interactions, ligand-receptor binding, intracellular signaling and virus-mediated fusion. Very few high resolution electron based imaging facilities exist in the world and NCI offers the environment necessary to support such an effort, including expertise in structural and cell biology, cancer research, nanoscience, computational and systems biology. This upgrade will extend the capability of the Nova 200 in several critical respects: size of image collected, speed of data acquisition, independent computer control of ion and electron beams so that the imaged area can be a subset of the ion beam-milled area, and by adding powerful tools for automated and remote data collection. It will not improve the intrinsic resolution of the instrument. It is necessary to receive this upgrade now in order to complete a number of experiments this Fall so that the results can be included in our quadrennial site visit report due in January 2011. In order to extract the maximum performance from the Nova Dual Beam System, a software upgrade is necessary. The contractor shall provide four software components as follows: -Correlative Slide Navigation - a software application for Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEM) or Small Dual Beam (SDB) instruments, which enables the microscope operator to navigate the stage using an external input. Correlative Slide Navigation includes a special holder for glass slides, which allows the user to bring one or two standard light microscope slides into the SEM/SDB chamber. The holder for glass slides enables easy sample exchange between -Automation License - includes a hardware protection key which is required for the image recognition software that is used by the automation packages AutoFIB and AutoTEM G2/G3 -Auto Slice & View G3 - third generation software for automated serial sectioning and imaging through a user-defined volume of a specimen -Extended Slice & View (XS&V) - enables automated imaging at high resolution by using the stage to move the sample to a position optimized for isotropic high resolution and signal yield to the in-lens backscatter detector. In order to do this in a repeatable way the stage position has to be calibrated before every slice is cut with the FIB. The XS&V creates fiducial markers as an alignment reference. High resolution images can be acquired in a tiled pattern so these can be used for assembly of large areas with high resolution. FEI Company, Inc. is the manufacturer of the Nova Dual Beam System; accordingly, the only software that will operate on the existing system within the NCI Laboratory of Cell Biology must be provided by this company. This System provides a powerful tool for automated, high throughput, site-specific tissue imaging at resolutions good enough to visualize the subcellular architecture of cells and cell-cell contacts; no other known source exists to provide this software upgrade to the Nova Dual Beam System which currently resides within this Lab. 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 August 23, 2010. 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 at the address stated above. All questions must be in writing and can be faxed (301) 402-4513 or emailed to Melissa Marino, Contract Specialist, at marinome@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-100167-MM on all correspondence.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/HHS/NIH/RCB/NCI-100167-MM/listing.html)
- Record
- SN02240765-W 20100815/100814000356-9c221d4b841502a074a6d5a6b2815ff7 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |