LSM990 Confocal Airyscan- 2 Detector Microscope

1. GENERAL INFORMATION This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial products prepared in accordance with the FAR Part 12.1, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice, and in conjunction with FAR Part subpart 13.5 This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotations are being requested, and a separate written solicitation will not be issued.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), Intends to contract on a sole source basis with Carl Zeiss Microscopy – One North Broadway, White Plains, NY 10601 to procure a LSM 990 w/Airyscan-2 Detector Microscope consisting of all the items per the attachment provided in this notice.
The Government intends to award a Firm-Fixed-Price Purchase Order resulting from this solicitation.

2. DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT

2.1 Background
The NIDCD uses live cell imaging to view the real-time cellular organelle development and functions. Only the LSM990 proprietary Airyscan detector, which is a 32 channel GaAsP Array, sampling at 0.2AU per detector for a total of 1.25AU of the PSF at every pixel for a resolution of 90nm in XY and 200nm in Z will fulfill our needs. The resolution and sensitivity of the detector is critical for the work with live organ of Corti explants from mouse cochlea to do imaging over multiple days, which requiring the gentlest imaging with the highest level of resolution. Another critical aspect of the experiments is the file sizes and data handling and processing needs. The LSM990 has addressed these concerns, 8x smaller image size for the raw data and 5x faster processing of the final Airyscan data of high-resolution live imaging.
The LSM990 microscope system is needed soon since it allows for high-resolution imaging at much faster speed of acquisition than available on LSM880 to collect live imaging data of the mouse organ of Corti explant for a current project in the laboratory. Live imaging of the cells, tissues and organelles is challenging since when explanted they can be kept in physiological conditions for the limited number of days to perform microscopy experiments. This dictates the necessity of the detector sensitivity and particular acquisition parameters, such as the high resolution and speed of
live imaging to effectively protocol the live events such as cellular organelle development such as stereocilia. So, the LSM990 system is crucial to efficiently collect high quality data for an ongoing project to finish and publish it promptly.
Brand name only:
The Airyscan detector of LSM990 system represents a proprietary technology from Carl Zeiss Microscopy, LLC and a continuation of Airyscan detector use in the lab is essential to generate high-resolution publication quality data and efficiently complete the research projects that are ongoing in the lab using this detector, only Zeiss LSM990 system would suffice the goal.
Zeiss LSM990 offers the proprietary Airyscan-2 detector, which is a 32 channel GaAsP Array, sampling at 0.2AU per detector for a total of 1.25AU of the PSF at every pixel for a resolution of 90nm in XY and 200nm in Z, which fulfill our needs of highest-resolution possible live imaging of the mouse organ of Corti. Also, our current confocal system was heavily used by researchers from 7 different labs at NIDCD, and Zeiss ZEN software is user-friendly and intuitive, so even the new unexperienced users can learn it fast. The new LSM990 system is operated using a new version of the same ZEN software, and this will ensure uninterrupted process of faster, high quality and more efficient data acquisition by imaging for many LSM users at NIDCD
3. DELIVERY / PLACE OF PERFORMANCE Delivery, installation, re-alignment and recalibration once the microscope systems have been added to its permanent location in the lab.
National Institutes of Health 9000 Rockville Pike Building 35A, Room 1F-143A Bethesda, MD 20892
4. Price Quote The price quote shall include: • unit price, • extended price, • total quoted price, • any shipping charges, • any installation/startup/training charges, • warranty information, • any other separately priced items. The total quoted price shall include all costs necessary to provide a complete and fully
functional system meeting the requirements of this solicitation.

5. SAM Registration In order to receive an award, offerors must maintain an active SAM registration for all awards throughout the entire contract/order lifecycle, from offer submission to final payment. Failure to maintain an active SAM registration can jeopardize the award or result in non-payment. Lack of valid registration in SAM will make an offerors/contractor ineligible for award.

6. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS Quotations shall be submitted electronically to: Tina Robinson@ Robinsti@mail.nih.gov Quotations are due no later than: August 6, 2026, prior to 9:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time Late submissions may be rejected and not considered for award.

7. CLAUSES AND PROVISIONS The following FAR provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition, in addition to any others required by law or agency policy: FAR Provisions • FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors—Commercial Products and Commercial Services • FAR 52.212-2, Evaluation—Commercial Products and Commercial Services (The specific evaluation factors are identified in this solicitation.) • FAR 52.204-7, System for Award Management • FAR 52.204-13, System for Award Management Maintenance FAR Clauses • FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions—Commercial Products and Commercial Services • FAR 52.232-25, Prompt Payment • FAR 52.232-40, Providing Accelerated Payments to Small Business Subcontractors HHSAR Clauses • HHSAR 352.203-70, Anti-Lobbying • HHSAR 352.208-70, Printing and Duplication • HHSAR 352.222-70, Contractor Cooperation in Equal Employment Opportunity Investigations • HHSAR 352.232-71, Electronic Submission of Payment Requests