Public procurement notice: Contract Notice
Published: 2017-02-07
Buyer: The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
Country: UK
Region: Greater Manchester
Contract type: Supplies
Procedure: Open procedure
CPV classification: 31630000 | 33150000: Radiotherapy devices | 33151000: Radiotherapy devices and supplies | 38341000 | 38341200
Submission deadline: 2017-03-10
Award criteria: The most economic tender

Technical requirements: The Christie NHS Foundation Trust is seeking bids from suitably qualified and experienced providers to partner in delivering and developing the Proton Therapy Research Beamline, part of the proton therapy project at The Christie hospital.
This provision involves the supply and installation of beamline components to extend a clinical Proton Beam Therapy facility to a dedicated scientific laboratory space dedicated entirely to proton therapy research.
Bidding providers should be established suppliers of scientific and / or industrial particle beam control equipment with a track record of supplying and jointly working with scientific institutions on advanced technology physics projects.
Lot 1 constitutes compulsory items: all Quadrupole and Steering Magnets, Power Supplies, Diagnostic Devices, and Control System Software required for the installation of ‘Beam line A’ described in the technical specification document.
Options for this lot include all above components for the ‘Beam line B’ installation, and the Dipole magnet for switching between beam lines, as described in the technical specification document.
The Christie Proton Research Beamline is an extension to the clinical proton therapy facility. The clinical beamline extends into a 4th room, dedicated entirely to proton therapy research. A horizontal beamline will be constructed in this research space in the place of a clinical gantry.
The research beamline will initially consist of a single beamline with an end-station, providing a location for experiments. This end-station will provide for multi-disciplinary research modules, including radiobiology.
Installation of a second beamline for technical research is anticipated as a future expansion of this system. It would be advantageous for providers to configure their beamline design to accept concurrent or later installation of a 30-degree dipole magnet, though this is not an absolute requirement.
The research beamline will provide interfaces, beam transport and control between the beamline and endstation, which will include an interface to an experimental scanning nozzle for pencil beam scanning. Note that the scanning nozzle has already been provided and will form part of the initial beam line.
The research beamline will operate with protons of energies between 70 MeV and 250 MeV, with a nominal beam current of 2 nA and a maximum beam current of 10 nA.
A guiding principle of the design of this research beamline is that it must not interfere with the clinical operation of the facility. An air gap will separate the clinical and research beamline.
Supply of 3 or 4 quadrupole magnets, 4 steering magnets, and associated power supplies, and stands compatible with existing floor mounting points.
— Supply of a scanning magnet power supply to drive spot-scanning capability using the scanning nozzle provided.
— Supply of a beamline control system, to include a software development interface, enabling tunable optics coupling the beam to experiment.
All equipment must be delivered through the gantry room maze, a narrow corridor which provides shielding from radiation generated within the research area. The maze restricts the size and weight of any equipment to be delivered. There may be a need for in-situ assembly for large items (e.g. magnet alignment girders).