66--Histology Sorting and Filing System

Histology Sorting and Filing System THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY FOR MARKET RESEARCH PURPOSES. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP), REQUEST FOR QUOTATIONS (RFQ) OR INVITATION FOR BID (IFB). NO FORMAL SOLICITATION IS BEING REQUESTED UNDER THIS NOTICE. This Sources Sought Notice is for market research purposes to identify parties having an interest in and resources to support this requirement for a new Histology Sorting and Filing System for the United States Geological Survey (USGS), National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC), Madison, WI The result of this market research will contribute to determining the method of procurement. The Government will review the information requested in this announcement based on the responses to sources sought notice/market research, this requirement may be set-aside for small businesses or procured through full and open competition. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 334516 (Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing) and the size standard is 1,000 employees. NOTE 1: The Buy American Act (41 U.S.C. 8301-05) is the primary federal procurement law providing a preference for domestic goods and manufactured products. As such, the USGS is seeking information on sources that can supply the described instrument either mined, produced or manufactured in the U.S. in sufficient and reasonably available commercial quantities of satisfactory quality. A. Introduction: The United States Geological Survey (USGS), National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC), Madison, WI has a requirement to purchase a new Histology Sorting and Filing System. B. Background: The National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) is a science center of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) with specialized laboratories dedicated to wildlife disease detection, control, and prevention. Our mission is to advance wildlife health science for the benefit of animals, humans, and the environment. For our wildlife disease and mortality investigations, we routinely collect tissues for histopathology. The final products generated from that work are glass pathology slides, and paraffin embedded blocks containing fixed tissue. Our slide and block archives currently require a significant amount of staff time for filing and organization, and we do not have a working inventory of these archives. We have roughly 170,000 slides and 185,000 blocks in our archive. We do have a system for knowing what slides and blocks are created but not one for tracking what has been filed or removed from the archive. This system would allow us to automatically file and track what slides and blocks enter our archive, with the ability to sort between cases and projects, digitally capturing all the data on each item. This equipment will reduce staff time by automating what is currently a manual process while improving the tracking and itemization of our histology archive. C. Product Specifications for a Histology Sorting and Filing System: Provide an automated system to accurately sort, index and retrieve histology slide and block location, ensuring sample traceability meeting the following specifications: 1. Required Capabilities 1.1 Sorting Functions: a. Accept incoming histology slides in batches; automated sorting and inventorying of standard glass pathology slides (all stain types ¿ standard size 25.4 mm × 76.2 mm with a thickness of 1.0¿1.2 mm). b. Automatically sort based on configurable metadata: case number, accession number, stain type, date, or lab defined categories. c. Minimum processing rate of 200 slides/hour and 500 blocks/hour. d. Support both manual and barcode-driven sorting. 1.2 Filing & Storage: a. Track every item¿s storage location through software (database or LIMS integration). 1.3 Tracking & Identification: a. Mandatory support for 1D and 2D barcode formats. b. Automatic logging of handling events, custody transfers, and file movements. c. Unique identifier preservation throughout the entire workflow. 1.4 Retrieval: a....