Inactive

Request for Information Four-Color Flow Cytometer The U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA) in support of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID)... Request for Information Four-Color Flow Cytometer The U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA) in support of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) issues this Request for Information to support the acquisition of a new Flow Cytometer system to support a pivotal USAMRIID mission. The expectation is that any RFI submission will address software licenses, workstation, reagent containers, and starter kits that are part of a Flow Cytometer system. At a minimum, the four-color flow cytometer submission must provide the following: 1. Must not exceed a footprint greater than 35”W x 20”D x 20”H for the flow cytometer and the High Throughput Sampler. 2. Must have a minimum of four excitation lasers (405nm, 488nm, 640nm, 561nm) at 100mW output power to maximize fluorophore options and detections sensitivity 3. Must have a minimum of 25 detection channels to maximize signal detection and provide flexible configuration options: Forward scatter (FSC), side scatter (SSC) and 25 fluorescent detection channels 4. Must have 25 independent silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) detectors for collecting and processing signals from each of all 25 fluorescent channels 5. Must be able to detect and resolve particles of size down to 100nm with FSC and SSC 6. Must have a sample acquisition rate of 100,000 events/seconds to enable rapid data acquisition 7. Must have a robust, modular and automated means of sample acquisition and processing that enables use of the following formats: a. stationary single tube holder with 12x75mm falcon tube b. stationary single e-tube holder with 1.5mL or 2mL Eppendorf tube c. Automated sampler with: i. 12x75mm tube (with ACEA 40 tube rack) ii. 1.5- and 2.0- mL Eppendorf tubes (workable with ACEA 40 tube rack) iii. Standard 96-well plates (V-bottom, U-bottom, flat-bottom) iv. Standard 24-, 48-, 384-well plates 8. Must have a fluorescence threshold sensitivity of FITC <50 MESFs, APC <15 MESFs, Pacific Blue <30 MESFs, PE <20 MESFs to enable detection of weak signals or rare populations 9. Must have a fluorescent linearity: R squared >0.99 10. Must have spatially separated beams with 10x60uM small beam spot to minimize emission signal overlap 11. Must employ user-exchangeable filters with embedded “smart” sense to prevent errors 12. Must have fixed optics, requiring no operator alignment 13. Must have a 7.2 log dynamic range, eliminating the need to set detector voltages and simplifying instrument setup 14. Must have low carryover at < 0.1% volume 15. Must have absolute cell count capability and counting performance of <5% CV 16. Must employ a retractable probe and a built-in probe decontamination fluidics system to eliminate the possibility of cross-contamination between samples during acquisition 17. Must employ a full-featured, robust software package enabling: a. Operation, maintenance and troubleshooting of the flow cytometer b. Both data acquisition and analysis that is fully integrated into the flow cytometry system and offers all the tools needed to collect and analyze data c. Data export in FCS 3.0, FCS 31, and CSV formats for third-party software analysis d. Drag-and-drop software templating function allows for rapid application of settings and analysis across multiple samples e. Automatic compensation and a quick compensation function allow for rapid generation of compensation matrices. f. The ability to acquire and analyze data simultaneously. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) for this requirement is 334516 – Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing and PSC 6632 – Analysis Instruments, Medical Laboratory Use. Please note this Request for Information (RFI) is for informational purposes only, and no contract will be awarded as a result. A firm or organization’s response to the RFI – or lack thereof – will have no impact on the evaluation of responses to any subsequent Request for Proposals (RFP) released. 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. A request for documentation or additional information or submissions that only ask questions will not be considered as an affirmative response. Information received in response to this notice will be considered solely for market research purposes to determine whether a full and open competitive procurement or a small business set-aside procurement is in the best interest of the Government. All submission responses to this notice shall be emailed to Jeff Flook, at jeffrey.l.flook.civ@health.mil. . Capability statements are due, in writing, to the email address listed above no later than 10:00 AM EST, 27 July 2023. Capability statements shall be submitted via email ONLY as Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF attachment. No phone calls will be accepted.