NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD A SOLE SOURCE CONTRACT.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) intends to negotiate a contract on a
sole source basis with Plexon, Inc., Dallas, TX. The purpose of the contract is for the contractor to supply 64- and 128-channel Plexon OmniPlex data acquisition system, S/V-probes, and N-form Arrays, to the Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research at the National Eye Institute (NEI).
The Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research performs research in the fundamental brain mechanisms that allow sensory-motor coordination, specifically the visual/oculomotor system. In the Section on Sensation, Cognition, and Action, the goal is to understand the neuronal mechanisms that control saccadic eye movement (a simple behavior by which the line of sight is shifted quickly from one object to another). To examine this process, action potentials generated by neurons in the cerebral cortex of awake behaving Rhesus monkeys are recorded while the animal is exposed to images designed to causes saccadic eye movement. A critical portion of the experimental setup is how the action potentials in the brain are detected and recorded. Typically, action potentials are observed by the insertion of an electrode into the brain of the animal which electrical current caused by the action potential can be detected. These small electrical currents are detected by a system connected to the electrode by a wire. The most commonly used system for this is the Plexon MAP system.
OmniPlex system is different from the MAP system in one key way: instead of splitting the spike waveform & local field potential at the input of the preamp (like in the MAP), the OmniPlex system will digitize the entire wide-band signal at 40kHz with a 16-bit A/D converter. Once this signal is digitized, the user can filter the signal for local field potentials, spike waveforms for online sorting, etc. Not only will this provide the researcher with more abundant data, the data collected will be much cleaner and with less noise. This system also able to record across 64- or 128-channels. We will use it for recording of electric activity of nerve cells in behaving monkeys using eye movement tasks. Plexon is the only choice to perform sufficient multiunit recording and analysis of this. The unique and novel feature of this product is that it allows the researchers to gather information through layers of tissue in which a multi channel probe has been temporarily inserted. This model allows for the simultaneous recording across 128 channels, which allows for a dramatic increase in the data that can be obtained from each experiment.
The Plexon S or V-Probe with 24 channels is a product which is available nowhere else at the current time. The unique and novel features of this equipment is that its multiple recording channels are along the length of the probe in a linear fashion, necessary to allow the researchers to gather information through layers of brain tissue in which the probe has been temporarily inserted simultaneously. This feature is currently unique to the Plexon V-probe series. While multichannel probes do exist, the channels are placed out in a grid and have to be implanted directly into the surface cortex of the brain (and subsequently are left there), for example the Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology "CerePort Chronic Connector" or Thomas Recordings "Heptode". The Plexon S/V-probe is designed like a standard one channel micro-electrode, which can be moved from region to region, and has the structural strength to pierce the Dura and record in new brain regions, a feature completely lacking in traditional multichannel electrodes. Between the linear array, and this repositioning ability the Plexon S/V-probe is a powerful tool for the Neurobiologist.
The Plexon N-form array is a further development of the linear arrays found in the C-probes. In the N-form array multiple electrodes are placed in a 4 x 4 array to allow the researchers to look for neuronal activity over a much larger area then in the linear arrays, which only work in one direction, versus the three in the array. This represents the natural evolution of Plexon's linear array technology, to the old style "multiple channel" arrays which only worked on the surface cortex. The N-form arrays allow for the researchers to take advantage of the positive qualities of both styles of multichannel electrode in one unit.
The NIH is proposing to procure the 128-channel OmniPlex data acquisition system and the Plexon U/V-Probes with 64 or 128 channels from Plexon because this is the only system known to the Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research that meets the capabilities described above.

Responses
The proposed acquisition action is for items and/or services for which the
Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source under the
authority of FAR 13.106-1 (b). If you believe you can provide the items or
services, please forward capability statements to [email protected] by 5pm
(ET) on Friday July 26, 2019 and reference solicitation number
NIHOLAO-OD3-NOI-5430865.

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