SOURCES SOUGHT
A -- Measurement of Dysarthric
- Notice Date
- 6/17/2011
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541711
— Research and Development in Biotechnology
- Contracting Office
- Department of Veterans Affairs;Network Contracting Activity 8;Commerce Building;300 E. University Ave. Ste. 180;Gainesville FL 32601-3460
- ZIP Code
- 32601-3460
- Solicitation Number
- VA24811RI0737
- Response Due
- 6/27/2011
- Archive Date
- 8/26/2011
- Point of Contact
- Shirley Courtney
- E-Mail Address
-
-1611X4460<br
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE: The Department of Veteran Affairs NF/SG VHS Facilities within the Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN 8) is seeking responsible sources for a researcher, as outline in the Statement of Work. This is a market research for informational and planning purposes only. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION AND DOES NOT OBLIGATE THE GOVERNMENT TO ISSUE A SOLICITATION. Please be advised that the Government will not pay for any information submitted under this announcement. Your response should identify your company name, point of contact with contact information, indicate all areas you are capable of providing service, capabilities statement and identify your business size, and if you are (by the definitions in the FAR) any of the following: Small Business, 8(a) disadvantaged, disadvantaged, woman-owned, veteran-owned, service disabled veteran owned or HUB Zone certified. Responses to this notice shall be e-mailed or faxed to Shirley Courtney, Contract Specialist, FAX 352- 381-5746; E-mail address: shirley.courtney@va.gov. Telephone responses will not be accepted. Responses must be received in writing no later than 3:00 p.m. EDT June 27, 2011. Responses should clearly state their ability to provide the services. If a solicitation is issued, it will be announced at a later date, and all interested parties must respond to that solicitation announcement separately from their responses to this announcement. STATEMENT OF WORK BACKGROUND Patients with Parkinson's disease often have poor speech intelligibility that affects their everyday communication. The VA RR&D recently awarded a grant to develop appropriate tools for the quantification of speech intelligibility in these patients. This 4-year study (2009-2013) will conduct a series of experiments to better understand the speech intelligibility deficits in these patients and the present contract is related to this overall objective. This contract is being funded by the grant entitled "Measurement of Dysarthric Intelligibility Using Speech Recognition." OBJECTIVE The overall objective of this contract is to acquire professional services to assist in the execution of research studies on speech intelligibility in patients with Parkinson's disease. The primary job responsibilities will be to develop, implement and test suitable digital signal processing (DSP) algorithms to quantify speech intelligibility in patients with Parkinson's disease. DEFINITIONS DSP - Digital signal processing PERSONNEL QUALIFICATIONS The contractor to perform the specifications outlined in this contract. The contractor's representatives will each have minimum qualifications of: Ph.D. or Master's degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering. Students enrolled in Ph.D. program in ECE may also be considered for this position. Candidates must have good working knowledge and experience in DSP algorithms especially that related to speech analyses, coding and compression. SCOPE OF WORK The contractor's representative will assist the VA researcher and other members of the VA research team by: The candidates will: 1. Analyze large databases of normal and disordered speech (from patients with Parkinson's disease) to identify salient acoustic characteristics that differentiate the patient samples from normal speech. 2. Identify and implement suitable algorithms for speech analyses especially those related to the assessment of speech intelligibility. 3. Test these algorithms to determine whether these predict speech intelligibility in patients with Parkinson's disease with suitable sensitivity and specificity. 4. Suitably modify existing algorithms or develop new algorithms for the assessment of speech intelligibility in patients with Parkinson's disease. 5. Provide assistance with any other procedures required for the success of the research study. The candidates will be required to attend weekly research meeting with the Principal Investigator. In addition, the candidates will need to maintain regular contact with the Principal Investigator via e-mail, telephone or through personal meetings to ensure continuous progress on the research. DATA/DELIVERABLES The deliverables will consist of initial Matlab-based software that will automatically categorize the intelligibility of disordered speech, preliminary results on existing data set and a report describing the contributions. Deliverable Reporting Summary: at the end of the contract a minimum of two algorithms will be produced based on the assessment of speech intelligibility throughout the year. A summary and confirmation of these algorithms will be provided to the principal investigator on the grant and the principal investigator will verify it's completion to the contracting officer's representative (COR). The COR may at anytime ask for an update or progress report from the contractors. GOVERNMENT-FURNISHED PROPERTY, FACILITIES, OR RESOURCES None LOCATION OF CONTRACT PERFORMANCE Services are to be performed at the University of Florida, College of Engineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. VA RESPONSIBILITIES None
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- Record
- SN02476012-W 20110619/110617234715-45b0c2b06bedbbc710fc08f6cfe6b1f2 (fbodaily.com)
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