Fakta om udbudet

EU-nr

2022/S 075-201341

Offentliggjort

15.04.2022

Udbudstype

Tildeling af kontrakt uden forudgående offentliggørelse

Udbyder

Aarhus Universitet

Vindere

(15.04.2022)
Opticent Health
Evanston, Illinois

Visible-Light OCT system - 2022-0358685

Aarhus Universitet

Voluntary ex ante transparency notice

Supplies

Legal Basis:

Directive 2014/24/EU

Section I: Contracting authority/entity

I.1) Name and addresses

Official name: Aarhus Universitet
National registration number: 31119103
Postal address: Nordre Ringgade 1
Town: Aarhus C
NUTS code: DK Danmark
Postal code: 8000
Country: Denmark
Contact person: Jens August Aastrup Munch
E-mail: udbud@au.dk
Telephone: +45 93522562
Internet address(es):
Main address: https://www.au.dk/

I.4) Type of the contracting authority

Body governed by public law

I.5) Main activity

Education

Section II: Object

II.1) Scope of the procurement

II.1.1) Title:

Visible-Light OCT system - 2022-0358685

II.1.2) Main CPV code

38000000 Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses)

II.1.3) Type of contract

Supplies

II.1.4) Short description:

Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University wants to buy a visible-light Optical Coherence Tomography (vis-OCT) system for animal imaging. The aim is to study alterations in rodent brain microcirculation and oxygenation in healthy and pathological conditions. Vis-OCT will become one of the major tools for understanding capillary perfusion and oxygenation heterogeneity in Alzheimer’s disease.

II.1.6) Information about lots

This contract is divided into lots: no

II.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)

Value excluding VAT: 912 399.44 DKK

II.2) Description

II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)

33000000 Medical equipments, pharmaceuticals and personal care products

II.2.3) Place of performance

NUTS code: DK042 Østjylland

II.2.4) Description of the procurement:

Structural and functional abnormalities in the microvasculature (vessels ≲100µm in diameter) are strongly associated with the leading causes of death worldwide, including diabetes, hypertensive heart disease and dementia. These abnormalities precede noticeable changes in blood pressure or sugar levels, making monitoring them pivotal in research and early diagnostics. Various techniques have been designed in order to detect and quantify the abnormal changes. Visible-light Optical Coherence Tomography is a novel, rapidly developing technology that allows non-invasive three-dimensional imaging of blood flow and oxygenation using interferometric and multi-spectral approaches. Specifically, it uses supercontinuum (white) laser as a light source that allows the system to measure scattered and reflected light at multiple wavelength and thus provide oxygenation information by fitting the measured data to haemoglobin light absorption spectrum. Unlike the technologies existing at CFIN, vis-OCT is non invasive and does not require contrast agents (compared to multi-photon imaging), has high resolution (compared to MRI) and allows in depth imaging with capillaries network resolved (compared to laser speckle contrast and 2D multi-spectral imaging).

The vis-OCT technology application to medical sciences has high requirements to the system stability and signal-to-noise ratio, which is generally limited by the supercontinuum laser. Prof. Hao Zhang and his research group has designed a new spectrometer, which allowed them to produce shot-noise limited vis-OCT systems. These systems are available only from the Opticent Health company, founded by Prof. Hao Zhang and his colleagues.

Furthermore as Opticent Health provides both animal and human imaging vis-OCT systems, working with them will ensure smooth translation to clinical research in future.

II.2.5) Award criteria

II.2.11) Information about options

Options: no

II.2.13) Information about European Union funds

The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: no

II.2.14) Additional information

Section IV: Procedure

IV.1) Description

IV.1.1) Type of procedure

Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the Official Journal of the European Union in the cases listed below

The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive

Explanation:

Aarhus University wants to buy a visible-light optical coherence tomography system. Only 1 supplier (Opticent Health) provides visible light OCT systems that satisfy the project requirements. Specifically, the Opticent Health system (I) uses customized spectrometer and sensor that provide shot noise limited imaging, not degraded by the light source stability, (ii) combines vis-OCT with fluorescence imaging (iii) exists in human and animal imaging versions, thus ensuring smooth transition for translational applications. Selection of another supplier will pose a risk for the project, or make it overall impossible due to lower data quality.

IV.1.3) Information about framework agreement

IV.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: yes

IV.2) Administrative information

Section V: Award of contract/concession

V.2) Award of contract/concession

V.2.1) Date of contract award decision:

20/04/2008

V.2.2) Information about tenders

The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: no

V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire

Official name: Opticent Health
Town: Evanston, Illinois
NUTS code: US United States
Country: United States

The contractor/concessionaire will be an SME: yes

V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot/concession (excluding VAT)

Total value of the contract/lot/concession: 912 399.44 DKK

V.2.5) Information about subcontracting

Section VI: Complementary information

VI.3) Additional information:

VI.4) Procedures for review

VI.4.1) Review body

Official name: Klagenævnet for udbud
Postal address: Toldboden 2
Town: Viborg
Postal code: 8800
Country: Denmark
E-mail: klfu@naevneneshus.dk
Telephone: +45 72405708
Internet address: https://erhvervsstyrelsen.dk/klagenaevnet-for-udbud

VI.4.3) Review procedure

Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures:

Please contact Aarhus University, if you have a comment about this notice - udbud@au.dk

Following the notification, a standstill period of 10 calendar days will be held in accordance to paragraph 3 of Act No. 593 of 2 June 2016 on the Danish Act on the Complaints Board for public Procurement. This implies that the Contracting Authority cannot sign the Contract with the winning Tenderer before the standstill period has expired.

In case of complaints about tenders or decisions, e.g. award of contracts covered by Section II or III in the Danish Public Procurement Act must be submitted to the Complaints Board for Public Procurement (Klagenævnet for Udbud) within 45 calendar days from the day after the contractor published a notice in the Official Journal on the conclusion of a contract. At the latest concurrently with submission of an appeal to the Complaints Board for Public Procurement, the complaint must inform the Contracting Authority of the alleged infringement, and whether the appeal is to be referred to the board.

VI.4.4) Service from which information about the review procedure may be obtained

Official name: Konkurrence- og Forbrugerstyrelsen
Postal address: Carl Jacobsens Vej 35
Town: Valby
Postal code: 2500
Country: Denmark
E-mail: kfst@kfst.dk
Telephone: +45 41715000
Internet address: www.kfst.dk

VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice:

11/04/2022