University Of Ottawa Tender

The Unversity Of Ottawa Is Pleased To Invite Qualified Proponents To Submit A Proposal For A Slide Scanner To Perform High Resolution Automated Petrographic Analysis. General Description: An Automated Slide Scanner For Imaging And Digitising Thin Sections In Petrographic Analysis Is Required. The Slide Scanner Will Be Housed In The New Ore Deposit Petrology Laboratory (odpl) At The University Of Ottawa. The Laboratory Will Be Dedicated To The Petrological Characterization Of Ore Mineralized Rocks, With Specific Capacity In Reflected Light Characterization, Sample Visualization And Rapid Throughput For Mineralogical Screening. The Focus Will Be On Platinum-group Metal (pgm)-bearing Phases And Rocks, But The Analysis Of A Much Wider Array Of Base- And Precious Metal Mineralized Samples Will Be Possible Too. Key Capabilities Of The Odpl Will Be (1) Visualizing And Analyzing Multiple Thin Sections From The Same Hand Sample Quickly And Effectively In Looking For Pgm; (2) Image To Smaller (10s Of Nm) Length-scales In Reflected Light Optical Microscopy Than Possible Before; (3) Rapid Compositional Screening Of Pgm Assemblages; And (4) Isolating And Separating Pgm Populations From Bulk Rocks. The Slide Scanner Requested Will Be Particularly Relevant For Stages 1 And 3 Of The Workflow Outlined Above. The Automated Slide Scanner Must Be Automated, Have A Precision Scanning Stage, And Be Capable Of Imaging Multiple Thin Sections In One Sequence. The Slide Scanner Must Be Able To Operate In Transmitted And Reflected (bright Field) Light Modes. Transmitted Light, Plane Polarized, Cross Polarized And Circular Polarized Light Settings Must All Be Present, And The Polarizers Must Be Rotatable To Give A Virtual Petrographic Microscope Stage. A Range Of Objective Lens (5x, 10x, 20x Etc.) Will Facilitate High Resolution Image Collection Across Multiple Length Scales. A High Performance Microscope Camera Will Facilitate The Collection Of High Quality Color Images That Will Be Used For Subsequent Qualitative And Quantitative Analysis. A High Performance Workstation (computer System) Is Required To Handle The Large Datasets That Will Be Generated. The System Should Come With Bespoke Or Compatible Software To Support Multi-channel Image Acquisition, 2d Stitching, Multi-plane Z-stack Imaging, Quantitative Image Analysis And Machine Learning. Specifications Listed In Appendix A – Technical Specifications Compliance Form Of This Rfp Are The Mandatory Minimum Requirements For The Slide Scanner For High Resolution Automated Petrographic Analysis. Mandatory Minimum Requirements For The Slide Scanner To Perform High Resolution Automated Petrographic Analysis: 1.0 - Digital Petrographic Slide Scanner 1.1 - The Slide Scanner Must Have The Capability To Automatically Image 12 Slides Or More Continuously, With Continuous Loading Of Slides Even During Scanning Procedure 1.2 - The Imaging Station Must Be Fully Enclosed 1.3 - The Slide Scanner Must Be Able To Use Polarisation Contrast Optics And Image In Plane-polarised Light, Cross Polarised Light And Circular Polarised Light 1.4 - The Slide Scanner Must Be Able To Image In Reflected (bright Field) Light 1.5 - The Polarisers Must Be Rotatable, To Create A Virtual Rotatable Microscope Stage 1.6 - The Following Are The Minimum Slide Holder Requirements, Allowing For Standard Thin Section Dimensions Used In Optical Microscopy: