This notice is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotes are not being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. The solicitation number is NOI-RML-40013. The Government intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with Meridian Instrument Company to upgrade a Nikon TE2000S microscope with a digital camera and image acquisition software. The solicitation documents and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2001-23 dated 05/05/04. This acquisition will be processed under Simplified Acquisition Procedures (SAP) and is a Total Small Business Set-Aside. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 334516 and the small business size is 500 employees. The Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Laboratory Intracellular Parasites (LICP) performs research on basic immunological and cell biology studies aimed at understanding host defenses and host-parasite interactions. The LICP currently owns a Nikon TE2000S microscope and intends to upgrade this piece of equipment by adding a digital camera and software with the following specifications: 16 bit CCD scientific imaging digital camera suitable for low light level microscopy; with very high sensitivity, low noise high quantum efficiency and high-speed imaging. The camera must be compatible with both the existing Nikon TE2000S microscope and Universal Imaging’s MetaMorph software. MetaMorph multi dimensional image acquisition software with the following capabilities: (1) Binary, 8-, 16-, 24-, 48-bit image display and processing, multi dimension imaging that can align images within a stack, create a montage, create movies exportable as quicktime or AVI, render a 3D reconstruction, create Z-series projections, color-combine images, automatically measure through all planes automatically, enhance any or all images, equalize light, create topographic surface maps, perform arithmetic operations including add, subtract, multiply, divide, logical AND, OR, XOR, minimum, maximum, and average, view orthogonal planes and stitch a stack of images; (2) 2D deconvolution to remove out-of-focus effects using either an estimation of the three dimensional Point Spread Function to compute the contributions from adjacent out-of-focus planes and then removing this data from the original information or by using an unsharp mask operator to blur an image plane; (3) Z-series acquisition using Z motors and high speed focus changers with 3D reconstruction using rotated views from a stack of images, (4) Colocalization tools that can provide data regarding regions of overlap between two or more fluorescent probes, be able to graphically represent the intensities of each probe on a pixel-by-pixel basis and calculate a correlation coefficient to give a measure of both positive and negative colocalization. The intensity data from selected regions in an image stack or live video image must be able to be logged over time; (5) Particle tracking and motion analysis that will follow the movement over time of tagged particles with sub-pixel resolution, capable of spatial calibration, point-to-point measurements, automated time stamping of images and object tracking and be able to measure X and Y coordinates, velocity, mean displacement, mean vector length and plot the measurements onto printable and custom-configurable graphs; (6) Morphometry tools with parameters for morphometric measurement or classification of cells in monochrome or color images, morphology filters to restrict criteria to specific measurements and measure objects to meet the restriction criteria, an interactive mode which allows for working back and forth within the image window and data displayed in a table, histogram or scatterplot, and the ability to export the data to a spreadsheet or text file, (7) Cell counting, and (8) Time lapse acquisition. The software must be integrated with currently owned systems to share image files. Offer to include on-site installation and a minimum of 4 hours of training. Meridian Instrument Company is the authorized regional distributor of Nikon microscopes and equipment and MetaMorph software and is the sole source for the digital camera and image analysis software. FOB Point shall be Destination, Hamilton, MT. Delivery location is Rocky Mountain Laboratories, 903 S. 4th Street, Hamilton, MT. The following FAR provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition: 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items; FAR 52.212-2 Evaluation-Commercial Items; FAR 52-212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items; FAR 52-212.5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statues or Executive Orders-Commercial Items; FAR52.246-2 Inspection of Supplies-Fixed Price. Offerors must include with their offer a completed copy of the provisions at FAR 52.212-3 Offerors Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items. Award will be based on: the capability to meet the above stated salient characteristics, delivery, past performance and price. Offers may be mailed or faxed to the POC indicated above (Fax - 406-363-9288). Offers must be submitted not later than 4:30 PM (MDST) 06/04/04. By submission of an offer, the offeror acknowledges the requirement that a prospective awardee shall be registered in the CCR database prior to award, during performance, and through final payment of any contract, basic agreement, basic ordering agreement, or blanket purchasing agreement resulting from this solicitation. Copies of the above-referenced clauses are available upon request, either by telephone or fax. All responsible sources may submit an offer that will be considered by this Agency.

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