4-D Neuroimaging, B-286155.2; B-286155.3, October 10, 2001

4-D Neuroimaging, B-286155.2; B-286155.3, October 10, 2001 TITLE: 4-D Neuroimaging, B-286155.2; B-286155.3, October 10, 2001 BNUMBER: B-286155.2; B-286155.3 DATE: October 10, 2001 ********************************************************************** Decision Matter of: 4-D Neuroimaging File: B-286155.2; B-286155.3 Date: October 10, 2001 Richard B. Oliver, Esq., and William V. Walsh, Esq., McKenna & Cuneo, for the protester. S. Gregg Kunzi, Esq., Howard M. Holstein, Esq., and Michael J. Vernick, Esq., Hogan & Hartson, for CTF Systems, Inc., an intervenor. Deirdre L. Stallworth, Esq., Frederick M. Quattrone, Esq., and Michael Trovarelli, Esq., Defense Logistics Agency, for the agency. Paul E. Jordan, Esq., and John M. Melody, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Technical evaluation identifying various features of awardee's proposal as advantages was unobjectionable where agency followed solicitation's evaluation criteria and record establishes that evaluated advantages have a reasonable basis. 2. Agency's waiver of testing requirement included in solicitation by mistake did not prejudice protester where cost of the testing is de minimis; reducing protester's price by cost of the testing would not have affected the price-technical tradeoff. 3. Agency was not required to conduct discussions regarding what protester characterizes as perceived weaknesses in its proposal where proposal was rated acceptable under all factors and "weaknesses" were simply areas where awardee's higher-rated proposal had relative technical advantages. 4. Price-technical tradeoff was reasonable where source selection official identified technical distinctions between competing proposals and specifically determined that higher technically rated proposal represented best value despite higher cost. DECISION 4-D Neuroimaging protests the award of a contract to the Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC), on behalf of CTF Systems, Inc., under request for proposals (RFP) No. SP0200-99-R-8031, issued by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) for a magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography (EEG) whole-head scanner system, for use by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). 4-D principally challenges the agency's determination that CTF's proposal was technically superior to its own, and that these technical advantages warranted paying CTF's higher price. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The MEG/EEG The whole-head MEG/EEG system is intended for an advanced neuroimaging research facility at NIMH. The research involves detecting and recording signals of brain activity during cognitive performance in human subjects. Two key features are necessary in an instrument designed to detect this activity: sensitivity (the ability to detect very small signals in a background of noise) and spatial selectivity (the ability to determine where in the brain the signals are being generated, and to discriminate among different spatial patterns of brain activity). Agency Report (AR), Tab 3, attach. A, para. 1. The two methods of recording this brain activity are the EEG (electrodes attached to the subject's scalp to read the brain's electrical signals) and MEG (a large array of superconducting sensor coils, cooled by liquid helium and arranged in a helmet that fits over the subject's head to detect the magnetic field generated by the brain's electrical activity). Id. para. 2. The sensors--which are either magnetometers or gradiometers [1]--gather analog signals (flux) from the brain, which are subsequently digitized to allow the computer to record and analyze the data. Id. para.para. 4, 9. "Primary" sensors are placed close to the scalp to detect the brain's flux. Because the primary sensors detect some background magnetic activity (noise), the MEG also employs "reference" sensors, which are placed far enough away from the head so as to record only background noise. As part of the noise cancellation system, the MEG subtracts the reference sensor information from the primary sensor information to arrive at a more accurate measurement of the signals. Because the brain's magnetic field is millions of times smaller than the earth's magnetic field and that of other environmental sources (e.g., passing vehicles, power lines, and nearby elevators), the MEG is usually housed in a magnetically shielded room (MSR), and employs other methods of noise cancellation to obtain more accurate data. Id. para. 2. The Solicitation NIMH, through its intramural research program (IRP), plans and administers a comprehensive, long-term, multidisciplinary brain and behavioral research program dealing with the causes, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders, as well as the biological and the psychosocial factors to determine normal and pathological human behavior.