6640--Automated electrophysiology consumables QChip 384 Measurement Plate 10 QChips each month for 12 months for QUBE062

Summary: This is a Sources Sought notice and not a request for quotes. This request is solely for the purpose of conducting market research to enhance VHA s understanding of the market s offered products, services and capabilities. The Government will not pay any costs for responses submitted in response to this Sources Sought. This Sources Sought notice provides an opportunity for respondents to submit their notice of ability, and their available products and services in response to the requirement described below. Vendors are being invited to submit information relative to their potential of fulfilling the requirement below, in the form of a capability response that addresses the specific requirement identified in this Sources Sought.   The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is seeking a vendor to provide the following products and/or services below. Please see below for the requested products/services and descriptions. This Sources Sought is to facilitate the Contracting

Officer s review of the market base, for acquisition planning, size determination, and procurement strategy. The Department of Veterans Affairs, West Haven, CT VA Medical Center, is in need of the Qplate-384 plate consumable for the Qube automated electrophysiology instrument. The Qube and QPatch are highly specialized instruments that have the following unique characteristics critical to perform higher throughput but high-quality electrophysiology experiments. Both instruments enable unattended operation across more than one experiment plate. This unattended operation includes maintaining the harvested cells in a cell reservoir and the ability to transfer the cells to the experimental plates using robotic fluid transfers. To support the needs of our research, the software is readily configurable to perform the exact same experimental protocols as manual electrophysiology experiments. The software supplied with these instruments have the following unique characteristics: 1) The software stores the data in an SQL database which creates an auditable data trail to ensure data integrity for both data acquisition and also data analysis. 2) The software also automatically captures a wide range of metadata to aid the automated grouping and analysis of the acquired data. 3) The software, while already being very powerful with a large number of typical data analysis routines included, also implements the ability to specify user-defined analysis functions to enable start-to-finish analysis of any potential result within the software and avoiding the need to export interim data to external analysis programs. The ability of the software to analyze the data without needing to export to third party programs both maintains an audit trail for the results and also results in a much quicker data analysis throughput to further increase experimental productivity. The software and instrument hardware work together to be able to record high quality electrophysiology data, including the ion channel of primary interest to our group, the voltage-gated sodium channel. One of the amplifier features that is critical for obtaining quality recordings from voltage-gated sodium channels is to apply series resistance compensation which is specified as a percentage of maxiumum and the closer to 100% is better. Series resistance compensation, however, is difficult to implement at high values due to amplifier instability. A capability that is useful for studying state-dependent drug actions is to implement a dynamic protocol that can adjust and apply conditioning voltage protocols that are a target percentage of a measurement performed on the same cell earlier in the experimental protocol. For performing experiments in which drug compounds are being applied, the instruments must have the following unique characteristics: 1) The consumable plates implement a flow-through design that better insure complete compound exchange. 2) the flow pathway of the plates is made from low adhesive materials such as glass and minimize the amount of plastics which are commonly sticky for hydrophobic compounds which can then leak back into the recording well. 3) The electrodes for performing the electrical connections to the cell are embedded into the single-use plates so that there is no need for cleaning and reconditioning the electrodes. 4) The Qplate is manufactured to exacting specifications to be used by the Qube instrument and to have very high experimental success rate. Delivery: Department of Veterans Affairs VA Connecticut Healthcare System 950 Campbell Ave. Bldg 34 West Haven, CT 06516  RESPONSE COMMITMENT   I. Response:   A. Capability statement and with general understanding of the industry and current knowledge and subcontract networks that would be used to support the requirement as identified herein. Provide small business information for your company and any subcontractors.  B. Submittals furnished will not be returned to the sender. No debriefs will be conducted. Eligibility in participating in a future acquisition does not depend upon a response to this notice.   II. Timeline:  A. This request will close on stated date within the Government Point of Entry (GPE).   Notes:  This Sources Sought is for planning purposes only to gain knowledge of potential qualified sources and their size classification (large business, small business, 8(a), SDVOSB, etc.), relative to NAICS code 334516. Responses to this source sought will be used by the Government to make appropriate acquisition decisions. This notice is not a request for competitive proposals; however, any responsible source who believes it is capable of meeting the requirement 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 than no later than Monday, June 20, 2022, 15:00 PM EST. Interest/capability statements may be sent to Ann Marie Stewart, annmarie.stewart@va.gov. No telephone responses will be accepted.Â