Combined Sources Sought Notice and Notice of Intent to Award a Sole Source Contract for Automated Inverted Microscope

BACKGROUND The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is conducting market research to identify alternative sources that (a) are capable of meeting NIST’s minimum requirements for the following commercial products and commercial services and (b) would be interested in competing for that requirement: The Biophysical and Biomedical Measurement Group within the Microsystems and Nanotechnology Division of the Physical Measurements Laboratory will acquire an inverted microscope to advance measurement science for its Organ-on-a-Chip (OoC)/ Microphysiological Systems (MPS) program. Therefore, we require an inverted microscope system that is relatively easy to use, capable of maintaining live cell culture incubation conditions, and compatible with other existing Zeiss microscopes in the lab. The microscope will be used to image biological cells on substrates ranging from microscope slides to multi-well plates to our custom-made OoC/MPS platforms. The project aims to monitor cell behavior under drug and other stimuli to detect changes in cell state. Therefore, continuous automated imaging of cells before, during, and after exposure to different stimuli for hours to days on different substrates, thus the requirement of cell culture incubation components is required. The substrates expected to be used (but not limited to) are: microscope slides, multi-well plates, and our custom-made OoC/MPS platforms, is required. The areas within these substrates to be imaged will vary depending on what is analyzed in and around the cells. The microscope must fulfill a wide range of requirements as outlined above. It most supports various imaging modalities such as brightfield imaging, widefield fluorescence, and phase contrast microscopy with high spatial resolution and fast scan rates (20 fps or more at the highest resolution). Additionally, the microscope should be part of a complete system that includes filter sets for multi-color imaging and light sources for bright field imaging and widefield fluorescence imaging from ?385 nm to 735 nm to enable its use with common fluorophores. The system should feature a high level of automation, allowing image capture in multiple modes, and be programmable for continuous monitoring over several days. The automation should also allow integration of other microscope features, such as focus tracking, to enhance long-term monitoring alongside image capture. Automation should also extend to microscope features such as motorized sample stages, nosepiece to allow changes in objectives and filters. See Attachment 1 for required minimum technical specifications. NIST has not yet determined its acquisition strategy for this requirement and encourages interested sources to respond to this Notice. If NIST’s market research indicates there are alternative sources that are capable and interested in competing to fill this requirement, separate and apart from Carl Zeiss Microscopy, LLC (UEI: H41JAKKNEXY1), then NIST will consider conducting a competitive acquisition in accordance with law and regulation. To be clear, NIST’s identification of Carl Zeiss Microscopy, LLC in this Notice does not constitute a binding commitment or obligation for it to conduct a sole source procurement with Carl Zeiss Microscopy, LLC for this requirement. INSTRUCTIONS FOR RESPONDING TO RESPOND TO THIS NOTICE Parties that respond to this Notice are requested to voluntarily submit the requested information via email in Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, and/or Microsoft Excel format to the designated point(s) of contact whose name and email address appears at the bottom of this notice. Please provide only the information requested by this Notice, and do not include proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information in a response to this Notice. Information Requested in Response to This Notice: To help NIST with its market research, NIST is requesting that industry sources carefully review this notice and any attachments to it and...