Fibroscan Annual Service Contract

The requirement is for a service agreement to support the FibroScan 430 Mini+ Package currently in operation at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. The instrument is used to measure liver stiffness for both clinical patient care through the hepatology consult service and for clinical research conducted by the Liver Diseases Branch, as well as collaborative studies with the Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Obesity Branch and other Institute Centers. The service agreement is required to ensure continued operation, proper calibration, and reliable performance of the existing FibroScan 430 Mini+ system.

No other vendor can be used to meet this requirement, as maintenance, calibration, and repair must be performed in accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the instrument. The FibroScan 430 Mini+ utilizes vibration-controlled transient elastography, and proper probe calibration is required to maintain measurement accuracy. Services performed outside of the required specifications would risk producing invalid or inconsistent results. Alternative service providers are not feasible, as maintenance and calibration of this specialized equipment require proprietary knowledge, tools, and procedures specific to the FibroScan system. The use of non-authorized service providers could result in improper calibration, equipment malfunction, or loss of data integrity, which would compromise both clinical care and ongoing research protocols.