Leica Stellaris 5 Confocal Microscope System

The Department of Veterans Affairs, San Francisco VA Health Care System intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with Leica Microsystems Inc. for a Leica Stellaris 5 Confocal Microscope System, in accordance with FAR 6.302-1. This equipment will be utilized by basic to clinical scientists at the San Francisco VA HCS Research Service for ongoing and new research studies as part of their cellular imaging core facility. The Leica Stellaris 5 Confocal Microscope System is a replacement for a non-functional and obsolete confocal system no longer supported by the manufacturer. Investigators require the Leica Stellaris 5 digital confocal microscope system equipped with an integrated white light laser (WLL), and Power HyD S silicon detectors. This system allows for the tuning of excitation between 485 nm and 695 nm with 1 nm precision, while imaging up to 8 laser lines during a scanning procedure with freely configurable detection up to 850 nm. The Power HyD detectors enable TauSense Technology, giving access to fluorescence lifetime-based information and intensity data simultaneously. The system also includes Lightening SR mode, an information extraction technology that provides near super resolution images in real-time. The microscope is also equipped with a Super-Z Galvo stage which affords fast, accurate Z-scanning and vibration free imaging. The Leica Stellaris 5 System is the only known confocal microscope system capable of meeting these required features: - The capability of the confocal microscope to utilize up to 8 spectral lines (between 485 nm and 695 nm with 1 nm precision) in a scan using white laser and acouto optical beam splitter (AOBS) and prism-based spectral detection technology. This is achieved without the use of dichroic filters. - Capability of the system to dynamically separate autofluorescence emitted by a sample during the scan into a separate channel (tau sensing). - Capability of the system to gather fluorescence data using pulsed laser-detector technology for the separation of signals from closely related fluorochromes. These advanced capabilities are not only required by studies to be conducted by the end-users, but proprietary to Leica Microsystems. This is a notice of intent and is not a request for competitive quotes; however, any responsible source who can provide an equivalent product with the features described above, and who is the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), authorized dealer, authorized distributor, or authorized reseller of all the items listed above, may submit a capability statement to the contracting office no later than Thursday, September 15, 2022, 3:00 PM, EDT. Interest/capability statements which specifically detail how your product meets the requirement may be sent to Shannon Hukriede at shannon.hukriede@va.gov. No telephone responses will be accepted. A determination not to compete the proposed requirement based upon the responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.