Equipment: 7T MRI System with a dedicated, high-performance, local gradient subsystem.

nufacturing CONTRACT TYPE: Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP), Single-Award PROCEDURE: Negotiated RFP - Combined FAR Part 12 and FAR Part 15 RELEASE DATE: September 5, 2026 QUESTIONS SUBMISSION DEADLINE: September 9, 2026, by 5pm EDT. RFP RESPONSE DEADLINE: September 18, 2026, by 5pm EDT POINT OF CONTACT: Tina Robinson @ robinsti@mail.nih.gov 1. Description of Requirement & Scope of Work This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial products and commercial services prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, as streamlined by the active Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) commercial streamlining guidelines, and supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. The specific objective of this purchase is the acquisition of a 7T MRI System with a dedicated, high-performance, local gradient subsystem. The acquisition will allow the FMRIF to be able to provide the latest tools and techniques to NIH researchers to collect high quality brain imaging data from patients and research volunteers and develop novel scanning protocols advancing the state-of-the-art for structural and functional brain imaging. The upgraded system is to be used for clinical and preclinical human MRI research. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Core (FMRIF) Center requires the acquisition of a new, research-dedicated 7-Tesla (7T) Ultra-High Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) System or Technical Equal, a complete turn-key physical installation within the FMRIF Center, and the trade-in extraction and removal of an existing legacy Siemens 7T Plus MRI system. The Contractor shall provide all equipment, personnel, engineering project management, specialized rigging, mechanical installation, calibration, onsite applications training, and legacy de-installation/trade-in services necessary to deliver and make fully operational the ultra-high field system under a single-award, Firm-Fixed-Price contract structure. 2. Section B: Supplies or Services and Prices/Costs Bids must reflect the best and final price for a complete, turn-key delivery. Pursuant to standard commercial unbundling rules, pricing is separated into independent supply, service, and option Contract Line Item Numbers (CLINs) to ensure strict accountability and invoice integrity. B.1 Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) Structure - SEE ATTACHMENT B.2 Total Evaluated Price Calculation Formula - SEE ATTACHMENT Section C: Statement of Work & Technical Salient Characteristics Alternative systems must strictly comply with the following mandatory engineering baselines to be deemed technically acceptable: 1. Magnet Core Assembly . Field Strength: Superconducting, actively shielded 7.0 Tesla (7.0T) magnet body suitable for human patient studies. . Field Homogeneity: Less than 5 ppm peak-to-peak over a 25 cm Diameter Spherical Volume (DSV) fully shimmed with superconducting and/or passive shims. . Spectral Linewidth: Water spectral linewidth of less than 0.1 ppm Full Width Half Height (FWHH) over a 25 cm DSV. . Field Drift Rate: Main field drift less than 0.05 ppm/hour without field drift compensation, and less than 0.005 ppm/hour with field drift compensation actively enabled. . Cryogenic System: Zero boil-off technology for continuous liquid helium preservation. . Emergency Infrastructure: Integrated physical safety switch to shut off the main magnetic field quickly and safely during an emergency (final location designated at installation). . Ramp Profile: Vendor must specify exact magnet ramp-up and ramp-down times following installation or service. Faster ramp times are preferred. 2. Room Temperature Shim & Gradient Coils . Physical Clearance: Local head gradient system featuring an internal clear bore diameter of at least 40 cm free, available space. . Gradient Performance: Amplifiers capable of generating a maximum peak amplitude of at least 200 mT/m along each axis simultaneously with a maximum slew rate of at least 900 T/m/s with the supplied coil. . Active Shimming: Room temperature active shim coil set consisting of at least 8 independent channels (3 first-order and 5 second-order terms) with a dedicated power supply, fully controlled via the central operator console software environment. . Waveform Architecture: Control unit operating with at least 10 ��s time resolution and 16-bit amplitude resolution. . Field Stability: Better than 0.5% deviation at maximum gradient strength on each axis. . Thermal Protection: Dedicated hardware and software mechanisms to dynamically protect gradients and amplifiers from thermal overheating. 3. Radio Frequency (RF) Electronics & Coils . Parallel Transmit Array: Transmitter system featuring 8 independently controllable RF transmit channels operating at frequencies suitable for protons (1H). . Amplifier Output: RF transmit amplifiers supplying at least 1 kW pulsed, linear, on-resonance power independently per channel. All RF channels driven by independent waveform generators with adequate waveform memory supporting concurrent amplitude and phase modulation. . SAR Safety Subsystem: Real-time RF transmit power monitoring on all individual channels with an automatic control mechanism ensuring estimated local and average Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) metrics remain below FDA/IEC guidelines. Includes power-limiting safety boundaries for individual transmit elements. . Digital Receivers: A minimum of 64 digital receiver channels capable of receiving on-resonance MRI signals in parallel. . Multinuclear Broadening: At least 8 receiver channels must be broadband (10.298 MHz), configured to detect non-proton nuclei including 1H, 1.F, 31P, 13C, and 23Na. . Receiver Metrics: Minimum digital sampling bandwidth of at least 1 MHz with at least 16-bit dynamic range, allowing direct user access within the full range of imaging sequences to raw, pre-reconstruction MR sampled data. . Included RF Array: Delivered with a minimum of one high-performance human head RF coil, configured as a multi-channel transmit and 64-channel receive array (8Tx/64Rx) optimized for accelerated imaging (GRAPPA, SENSE, and Simultaneous Multislice/Multiband). . Open-Source Coils: Full specifications and interface tools to enable the secure attachment and operation of customer-developed, custom-built RF coils. . External Gating: Subsystem for gated data acquisition with a minimum of 2 independent external signals and 4 BNC TTL output lines, providing digital recording and real-time display of respiratory and cardiac waveforms. 4. Host Operator Console & Image Reconstruction Computer . Host System: State-of-the-art host workstation with current scanner operation, protocol planning, and image viewing software supporting automated shimming optimization for individual human subjects. Software must support acquisition and processing of advanced neuro-MRI and spectroscopy applications. . Reconstruction Hardware: Dedicated high-end image reconstruction computer supporting advanced neuro-MRI and spectroscopy algorithms. . Real-Time Processing: Capable of acquiring and reconstructing 64-channel data in real-time during accelerated (R4) gradient-echo echo planar imaging (GE-EPI) sequences for 30 continuous minut