Supply and Install of an Ultra-high Field Preclinical MRI System

1. Background Information

The University of Western Ontario (Western), the third largest university in Ontario, has a full and part-time enrolment of more than 45,000 graduate and undergraduate students and includes three affiliated University Colleges.  The Western campus covers 481 hectares and is located about 4 km north of the centre of London. Western’s campus has one main campus with over 100 buildings. In addition, Western has several offsite locations, including but not limited to, the Institute for Chemicals and Alternative Resources (ICFAR) located on Wonderland Road north and the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) located off the Veterans’ Memorial Parkway, north of Highway 401 near Bradley Avenue. There are approximately 3,800 full-time faculty and staff.  An additional 5,000 part-time staff and faculty represent approximately 3,800 full-time equivalents.
 

2. Context

This Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) is aimed at communicating Western’s intention to issue a Purchase Order for Supply and Install of an ultra-high field preclinical MRI scanner to Bruker, Ltd. located in Milton, Ontario, Canada.  However, before the contract is awarded, Western would like to give suppliers the opportunity to prove that they can meet the requirements set out in this advance notice by presenting a Statement of Capabilities during the posting period of at least 15 calendar days.
 

3. Statement of Capabilities

This document does not constitute a call for tenders.

Suppliers who consider themselves wholly qualified and who are available to meet the specified requirements may present a written Statement of Capabilities to the contracting authority named in this advance notice, by no later than the notice closing date. The Statement of Capabilities must clearly prove that the supplier has the necessary qualifications, current technology, capabilities, capacity, experience and resources to meet the requirements set out in the advance notice

If other potential suppliers present a Statement of Capabilities during the posting period and prove that they meet the requirements set out in the ACAN, Western will initiate a full tendering process through Bonfire and MERX public tendering service.

If no supplier presents a Statement of Capabilities meeting the requirements set out in this ACAN by the closing date, a purchase order will be awarded to Bruker, Ltd. Canada.
 

4. Application
    

Western University intends to acquire an ultra-high field preclinical MRI scanner for rodent and ex-vivo imaging research applications.
 

5. Deliverables

The preclinical MRI system must have the following specific characteristics:
 

• A minimum static magnetic field strength of 15.2T (650 MHz proton frequency).
• A high duty cycle/high slew rate/high gradient strength (>1000 mT/m) gradient coil with a minimum bore size of 6 cm.
• A liquid helium consumption of <650 l/year at maximum gradient duty cycle.
• A gradient amplifier with a minimum of 300 V and 200 A at high duty cycle.
• An integrated bed and animal handling system.
• A minimum of 8 receive channels.
• A full set of 2nd and 3rd order shims with associated shim amplifiers.
• Broadband operation of all transmitters and receivers.
• Complete imaging and spectroscopy software library including parallel imaging, multiband (SMS) and compressed sensing capabilities.
• Local service personnel in Ontario.
• An installed base of operational systems with these specifications to allow multi-site preclinical trials.
• Operational compatibility with PV360 software running on an existing 9.4T.

 

6. Budget Limit

The list price for the ultra-high field preclinical MRI system is not to exceed approximately $6,600,000 (CAD) before taxes.
 

7. Delivery

The system must be delivered by January 2024.  On-site installation, system integration, and testing will be performed by Western University prior to this date.
 

8. Deadline

Statement of Capabilities must be received by Western no later than December 7, 2022 12:00PM.
 

9. Statement of Capabilities Submission Instructions

All submissions and accompanying documents must be uploaded electronically at https://uwo.bonfirehub.ca.  Hardcopy submissions will NOT be accepted.
Suppliers are solely responsible for the delivery of submissions in the manner and time described.
 

1. Requested Files:

Organize your submission into the following individual files (note the required file types):
Statement of Capabilities Response- MS Word or PDF

Each file has a maximum size of 1000 MB. You will upload each file individually.
 

2. Technical Support:

Western is using a BonfireHub public portal for the submission process. Please contact Bonfire at Support@GoBonfire.com for technical questions related to submitting your documents. You can also visit their help forum at https://bonfirehub.zendesk.com/hc.
 

10. Submissions Must Be Submitted on Time at Prescribed Location

Statement of Capabilities submissions must be submitted in the method set out above on or before the Deadline. 

When submitting through Bonfire electronic bid submission, please note that submissions will be time stamped with the time at the end of the upload process not the beginning.

Submissions to Bonfire after the specified deadline will be rejected.
 

11. Western Primary Contact:   Scott Roth sroth6@uwo.ca

Julie Nicely jnicely@uwo.ca
 

Bidding and Documents are available on http://www.merx.com. Fees may apply; See https://www.merx.com/public/pricing for more information.