SPECIAL NOTICE
A -- Incapacitation Prediction for Readiness in Expeditionary Domains: an Integrated Computational Tool (I-PREDICT) Force Health Protection Future Naval Capability (FNC) Project - Request for Project Proposals - MTEC-18-04-I-Predict
- Notice Date
- 12/21/2017
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- NAICS
- 54171
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life SciencesT
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Army, U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, Attn: MCMR-AAA, 820 Chandler Street, Frederick, MD 21702-5014, Maryland, 21702-5014, United States
- ZIP Code
- 21702-5014
- Solicitation Number
- MTEC-18-04-I-PREDICT
- Archive Date
- 2/3/2018
- Point of Contact
- Lisa A. Fisher, Phone: 843-760-3356
- E-Mail Address
-
lisa.fisher@ati.org
(lisa.fisher@ati.org)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Request for Project Proposals - MTEC-18-04-I-Predict The Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium (MTEC) is excited to announce a Request for Project Proposals (RPP) focused on the development of an in silico, "skin-in" integrated finite element computational model of the Warfighter's body that will predict immediate injury and near term functional incapacitation (reduction in the ability to move, shoot, and/or communicate) resulting from exposure to specific military hazards. This particular solicitation is focused on acquiring a finite element computational model of the thorax to predict injury and functional incapacitation from behind armor blunt trauma, as an initial step toward whole-body modeling of responses to a variety of military hazards. The MTEC mission is to assist the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC) and other DoD research funding organizations by providing cutting-edge technologies and effective materiel life cycle management to transition medical solutions to industry that protect, treat, and optimize Warfighters' health and performance across the full spectrum of military operations. MTEC is a biomedical technology consortium collaborating with multiple government agencies under a 10-year renewable Other Transaction Agreement (OTA), Agreement No. W81XWH-15-9-0001, with the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA). MTEC is currently recruiting a broad and diverse membership that includes representatives from large businesses, small businesses, "nontraditional" government contractors, academic research institutions, and not-for-profit organizations. Overarching goal of the of the I-PREDICT FNC: Injury and incapacitation estimates for combat scenarios are currently educated guesses at best. Estimates may be based on simplified injury risk thresholds on hazard parameters such as pressure, stress, strain, or force applied to an organ or tissue. Increasingly, such knowledge is incorporated into computational simulations that can be run repeatedly to explore variations in hazards and physiologic responses in order to assign statistical confidence to predictions of injury risk. Current modeling and simulation methods for predicting injury can be inaccurate, regional rather than whole-body, not validated appropriately, and may not be based upon physiologically or operationally relevant loading conditions. Injury prevention standards are needed to protect Warfighters from injuries based on a scientific understanding of hazardous conditions typical of military service, and of the vulnerability of tissues, organs, and bodily functions to those hazards. Such standards will inform the design tradespaces of personal protective equipment (PPE), safer vehicles, and safe-to-operate weapons systems; as well as tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to protect against injury. Injury prediction models will also allow improved estimation of casualty types, rates, and severity, which in turn will predict individual and unit readiness during operations and medical treatment requirements. The development of a highly biofidelic finite element model of the whole human body is needed to inform such applications. Focus of this RPP: The initial RPP solicits experimental and modeling proposals to advance the state of the art in prediction of injury due to behind armor blunt trauma (BABT) of the thorax, as an initial focused use case representing an operational military need. A previously developed computational model of the torso* will be made available to performers as a reference implementation, and as a baseline model subject to improvement. A performer will be expected to adapt the model through parameterization using new or alternatively sourced constitutive response data, validating BABT experiments resulting in kinematic and/or stress/strain data, and/or injury biomechanics data. Time and funding permitting, it is expected that the resulting model will be morphable to represent both male and female Warfighters across a range of sizes (5th to 95th percentile body size). Validating experiments of interest should prioritize high-powered antipersonnel rounds to the anterior and/or posterior surfaces of the torso. Any new experiments should provide clear differentiation from prior literature, pointing out specific knowledge gaps and specific improvements to biofidelity of thoracic modeling in a BABT context. In addition to updated constitutive properties, it is expected that the model developer will provide additional updates to the reference implementation to support biofidelity in a high-energy behind armor blunt trauma use case. [*A description of the government-furnished computational model is available at https://mtec-sc.org/active-solicitations/ along with the full RPP. Please direct your attention to Section 4 of the document entitled, "Response and injury models to torso impacts," for specific information related to this RPP. Other sections within the document are outside the scope of the current I-PREDICT program.] Potential for Follow-On Work: Additional experimentation and modeling may be solicited in future funding years to continue to build an integrated finite element computational model of the entire Warfighter's body to be used for injury prevention and treatment, medical response planning, and equipment design including tradeoff analysis among design parameters, validation, and testing. Funding and Period of Performance: The U.S. Government (USG) currently has available approximately $850,000 for Fiscal Year (FY) 18. The period of performance is expected to start on March 1, 2018 (subject to change). A near-complete prototype must be ready for delivery to the Government by July 31, 2018. Awardees will have until September 30, 2018 to make final minor improvements to the prototype. It is expected that MTEC will make a single award to a qualified team to accomplish all tasks. However, if a single proposal is unable to sufficiently address the objective of this RPP, several Offerors may be asked to work together in a collaborative manner. Therefore, it is highly recommended that only Offerors interested in the potential to collaborate with other Offerors and share data rights submit proposals in response to this RPP. Administrative Comments: Proposals are due no later than January 19, 2017 at noon EDT. This RPP is posted to the MTEC website (www.mtec-sc.org) and a notice will be posted to FedBizOpps (www.fbo.gov) to notify interested parties. MTEC membership is required for the submission of a full proposal in response to this MTEC RPP. To join MTEC, please visit http://mtec-sc.org/how-to-join/ MTEC will host a Proposers Conference tentatively scheduled for mid-day on January 12, 2018 that will be conducted by webinar. Further instructions and points of contact will be forthcoming to allow you to enroll. For inquiries regarding this announcement, please direct your correspondence to the following contacts: •Technical questions - Dr. Lauren Palestrini, PhD, MTEC Director of Research: lauren.palestrini@officer.mtec-sc.org •Administrative questions - Ms. Kathy Zolman, MTEC Program Manager, kathy.zolman@ati.org •Membership questions - Ms. Stacey Lindbergh, MTEC Executive Director, execdirect@mtec-sc.org For more information about this RPP, please visit the MTEC website (a link is included in the attachment incorporated into this posting).
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USA/USAMRAA/DAMD17/MTEC-18-04-I-PREDICT/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, United States
- Record
- SN04773665-W 20171223/171221231244-628daa475bc224fff03058b4baf7c2ac (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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