ImageXpress Confocal HT.ai High Content Imager

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NIOSH/HELD/ACIB, 1095 Willowdale Road, Mail Stop: 4020, Morgantown, WV 26505, hereby announces its intent to issue a sole source contract in accordance with FAR 13.106-1(b)(1),to Molecular Devices, LLC, 3860 N First Street, San Jose, CA 95134, for ImageXpress Confocal HT.ai High Content Imager. The acquisition of the ImageXpress Confocal HT.ai High Content Imager will increase the quantitative high throughput screening (qHTS) ability for a wide, diverse range of in vitro toxicology studies designed to evaluate more complex cell and tissue models to uncover how work-related exposures cause adverse health effects, their modes of action, key events in adverse outcome pathways, and underlying mechanisms. This acquisition would serve as an upgrade to HELD’s ImageXpress Micro XLS widefield high content imaging system. Multiplex staining of several targets in exposed cells on microplate, air-liquid interface (ALI), organ-on-chip, and organoid platforms exponentially increases the amount of quantitative dose-response data while greatly reducing the amount of US Government's time, energy, resources, and money to conduct in vitro studies. The diversity and complexity of new alternative methods (NAMs), including 3-dimensional tissues, organoids, and ALI is expanding in biological and toxicology fields, thus requiring more sophisticated, quantitative methods to assess responses to different experimental and chemical exposures. The laser-based confocal HT.ai system allows for deep light penetration of tissue and organ models to image and quantitatively measure toxicological responses in complex NAMs models to workplace toxicants. The imaging system would support a wide array of basic biology and toxicology research supported by the National Occupational Research Agenda, NIOSH Nanotechnology Research Center, NTP, FEMA, and other extramurally funded research. The system will be valuable to not only our group but others as a CORE facility instrument for Health Effects Laboratory Division (HELD). Furthermore, the current Micro XLS high content imager can be of use to NIOSH/HELD/CBMB researchers located in Cincinnati Taft laboratories. Deinstallation in Morgantown and reinstallation in Cincinnati would increase HELD’s high content imaging and quantitative high-throughput screening ability of live cell culture models in both locations. Complex 3-dimensional in vitro models including multicellular tissues, air-liquid interface, organ-on-chip, and organoids are quickly becoming the standard in biology and toxicology research fields. In order to assess these models over different chemicals and concentration, image-based quantitative high-throughput screening is needed. Imaging platforms the rely on 2-dimensional image analysis are quickly becoming obsolete. The ImageXpress Confocal HT.ai High Content Imager by Molecular Devices will provide HELD the dynamic digital imaging and image analysis capabilities for quantitative high-throughput screening experimental assays to evaluate how chemical and environmental factor exposures impact complex human multicellular, tissue, air-liquid interface, and organoid models. This system would serve as an upgrade to HELD’s current ImageXpress Micro XLS widefield high content imager. The system is designed to rapidly acquire 100s to 1000s of fluorescent images per experiment in less than 20 minutes. The laser-based confocal system offers 7-channel laser illumination (405 – 730 nm), confocal launcher, filters for 8 channel fluorescence, three air objectives (4x, 10, 40x), and one water immersion 20x objective. The combination of laser and filter disc allows the user to quickly switch between confocal imaging and widefield illumination modes. Laser-based confocal with hands-free water immersion objective capabilities with leak detection sensors gives this system the unique ability to obtain highly detailed 3-dimensional imaging of complex multicellular and tissue in vitro models. The system relies on both laser- and image-based focusing to allow users great flexibility in correctly focusing on targets of interest. The system provides automated 3D imaging and volumetric image analysis combined with simultaneous multi-threaded parallel processing and automatic storage in a Microsoft SQL Database. This feature allows the researcher to scan multiple plates with 3D samples in a true walk-away solution from acquisition to analysis with no additional user intervention to correlate the massive amounts of data gathered to a database containing all images and statistical analysis, thereby saving time and increasing throughput. The Environmental Control module provides heat, humidity, and 5% CO2 atmosphere to cell modules within the system which provides the unique ability to conduct live cell imaging over hours and days on the same experiment resulting in quantitative time lapse imaging and data. The MetaXpress Analysis Premium software bundle includes 5 seats for all image analysis software which includes MetaXpress v6, MDCStore database, MDCStore Tools for database management, 15 pre-written application modules (including 3D imaging) for image analysis, and Microsoft SQL server. MetaXpress and supporting software would come on a pre-loaded Windows 10 Pro computer with 4 GB graphics card, 16 GB ECC, Microsoft Excel, Windows Defender, SQL Server Express, and >3TB hard drive space to store images and data. The addition of Custom Module Editor is a unique feature that allows the user to write their own image analysis workflow; an option that no other competitor provides. The software bundle is designed so that users can conduct both imaging and highly dynamic image analysis workflows all on one system and does not require external software packages to complete data analysis. Furthermore, there is an opportunity to add higher level artificial intelligence software that will allow supervised and automatic classification of cell phenotypes if additional future resources become available. The quoted acquisition cost for the HT.ai system is a GSA-quoted cost which increases the ability/cost ratio compared to all other competing systems. HELD scientists are familiar with the operation of ImageXpress systems, the image analysis software, and database management tools. Acquiring the HT.ai system compared to other systems would reduce the US Government time, money, and resources to switch to another type of system with drastically different experimental and data workflows. The ImageXpress Confocal HT.ai system will greatly enhance HELD scientists ability to rapidly and efficiently measure adverse health effects following occupational exposures in complex in vitro models that are quickly becoming the standard in for in vitro toxicological models. Other competing systems provide some of these options on their systems including the Revvity Operetta and Opera Phenix, and ThermoFisher Scientific’s CX7 and CX7 LZR Pro (See below for further information and specific details). However, they do not provide the unique blend of laser illumination, laser and image-based focusing, water immersion lenses, 4 objectives, user-designed image analysis workflows, and a self-contained 3D image analysis software package all on one single system at a similar price point. Furthermore, NIOSH/HELD/CBMB has voiced interest in conducting high content imaging on live cell cultures. Deinstall of the Micro XLS system in Morgantown and a reinstall in CBMB in the Taft laboratories would allow CBMB researchers to expand their current in vitro work while reducing time, energy, money, and resources on single endpoint in vitro assays. Molecular Devices field technicians are the only vendor that is qualified to conduct a deinstall/reinstall of sensitive high content imagers from Molecular Devices. The justification for this non-competitive action is in accordance with FAR 6.302-1 “Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements” Responsible sources that believe they possess the expertise and capabilities identified above are encouraged to submit to the Contracting Officer within 15 days from the posting date of this notice, their written capabilities statement which shall be considered by the agency. Please forward the capability statement to Maria Shamburger, [email protected], Contracting Officer, Reference 2024-84415. All vendors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) prior to an award of a federal contract. The website is: www.sam.gov. The Government will review any/all capabilities statements information submitted and determine if other qualified sources do exist that could provide this requirement. Information received in response to this announcement will be used solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. If no affirmative responses are received within 15 days, negotiations will be conducted with Molecular Devices as the only source and a contract will be issued without any additional notices being posted.