For emergency physicians like Neal Sikka, MD, necessity isn’t just the mother of invention — it’s a regular colleague on every shift.
“We’re always looking at how we treat patients, what tools we have and how they can be improved,” says Sikka, a professor of emergency medicine at the George Washington University (GW) School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS). That instinct — to question, refine and reimagine — drives his efforts to co-develop a suite of medical devices aimed at solving persistent clinical problems, from hard-to-place IV lines to stubborn nosebleeds.
Sikka is part of a growing cadre of GW SMHS clinicians who are translating frontline frustrations into real-world solutions. Alongside collaborators such as colleague Andrew Meltzer, he’s leveraging GW’s innovation ecosystem to bring new technologies from concept to commercialization, improving the lives of patients far beyond Foggy Bottom.
When MacGyvering Isn’t Enough
The concept for SonoStik, one of Sikka’s first inventions, was sparked in GW’s own emergency department. The team was an early adopter of using ultrasound to guide IV placement in patients whose veins were difficult to access, a common challenge in emergency medicine. Yet despite the use of advanced imaging, the process of threading the catheter remained imprecise and inconsistent.
Clinicians often improvised, repurposing guidewires designed for arterial lines in an effort to access veins. “We saw people using whatever they could find to get the job done,” Sikka says. “It worked, but it wasn’t ideal.” So he and a resident designed a tool specifically for ultrasound-guided venous access.
The result was SonoStik, a purpose-built device that streamlines the process of placing IV catheters into deep or difficult veins. Its central innovation lies in a modified guidewire advancement mechanism, engineered for greater precision, simplicity and compatibility with existing clinical workflows. “SonoStik improves not only efficiency but the patient experience,” Sikka explains. “Fewer sticks, less pain and a better outcome for some of our most vulnerable patients.”
NasaClip, another device Sikka co-invented, was born from the routine challenge of treating nosebleeds in the emergency room. The standard method, compressing the nostrils with taped tongue depressors, was archaic and unreliable. “Every time you let go, the clot breaks and the bleeding restarts,” Sikka explains.
Partnering with then-GW resident Liz Clayborne, MD, RESD ’15, he helped develop a sponge-and-clip mechanism that maintains pressure without requiring constant manual effort, making it simple enough for home use.
“We wanted to make it easy to apply pressure,” Sikka says. “Something that isn’t fatiguing, isn’t difficult and that a layperson could use themselves.”
From Idea to Impact
Brilliant ideas alone don’t save lives: They need structure, funding, protection and a path to market. At GW, that path often begins with the Technology Commercialization Office (TCO) and the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIE).
“The TCO has been an incredible resource,” Sikka says. “They help with education, patent protection, mentorship and even licensing.”
Beyond legal and technical support, GW fosters innovation through programs like the National Science Foundation I-Corps and the New Venture Competition (NVC), which Sikka calls “a bootcamp in communication” as it forces participants to convey an idea succinctly with the goal of securing investment and moving a product forward. These programs train clinicians and researchers to identify potential customers, evaluate market needs and build compelling pitches.
“Customer discovery is key,” he says. “You need to make sure you’re solving a problem people actually care about and are willing to pay to fix.”
That entrepreneurial mindset has fueled Sikka’s success and earned him widespread recognition. He was named GW’s 2025 Inventor of the Year and recently elected as a Fellow to the National Academy of Inventors.
“It’s not just about my work; it reflects a culture of mentorship and innovation we’ve built here,” he says.
A Parallel Path
Sikka isn’t the only SMHS physician turning clinical pain points into progress. Andrew Meltzer, MD, a fellow emergency medicine professor, recently led a team to victory at the 2024 GW New Venture Competition for their invention, GuideGuard, a device designed to prevent a rare but potentially fatal complication when placing a catheter into a central vein: guidewire retention.
Each year in the United States, more than 2,500 guidewires are inadvertently left in the body. This often occurs when a clinician becomes distracted or assumes the wire has been removed. The result can require surgical retrieval and carries a mortality rate as high as 20 percent.
“GuideGuard started as a simple idea born from a real clinical scare — watching a colleague nearly lose a guidewire during a central line placement,” Meltzer recalls. “I realized that even skilled providers can make this mistake, especially in the chaos of the emergency department.”
GuideGuard uses a passive, built-in resistance mechanism that keeps a portion of the guidewire outside of the body throughout the procedure. It adds a critical layer of safety without forcing clinicians to change how they work — an essential feature in fast-paced, high-stakes environments.
Like Sikka, Meltzer worked closely with the TCO and OIE during the development of GuideGuard. With OIE’s help, the team secured an engineering shop and used their NVC prize money to develop a prototype. Meltzer and his collaborators also benefited from a number of campus innovation programs that helped them translate medical insight into commercial potential.
“GW’s innovation ecosystem was instrumental: the Technology Commercialization Office helped us navigate early patenting and funding through a Technology Maturation Award, the I-Corps program challenged us to validate our clinical need through real-world interviews, and the New Venture Competition gave us visibility and momentum,” he says. “It’s rare to find that kind of comprehensive support for physician-led innovation.”
Building on the momentum of GuideGuard, Meltzer’s team is now investigating blood biomarkers for diagnosing acquired cannabis hypersensitivity in patients experiencing cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, a condition characterized by recurrent episodes of severe nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain in individuals who frequently use cannabis.
“Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome is a frustrating and often misdiagnosed condition. We’re seeing more patients as cannabis use increases, but without a reliable test, diagnosis is mostly guesswork,” Meltzer says. “Our goal is to create the first objective blood-based diagnostic tool for this syndrome, which could dramatically improve care and reduce unnecessary imaging and admissions.”
A Culture of Possibility
From reimagined IV lines to safer catheter placements, GW’s clinician-innovators are demonstrating that some of the most impactful medical solutions begin at the bedside. Backed by a university-wide commitment to translational research, they’re turning everyday clinical challenges into practical devices that improve patient care.
“Sometimes we get so busy in our clinical or research silos that we forget we’re sitting on ideas that could change care,” Sikka admits. “You don’t need to have it all figured out. You just need the insight, the passion and the willingness to collaborate.”
For physicians like Sikka and Meltzer, the daily demands of emergency medicine aren’t just moments of crisis — they’re opportunities to spot what’s missing, what’s broken and what could be better. At GW, where clinical insight is matched by a culture that encourages action, that perspective becomes a launchpad for real change.
“These projects take commitment,” Sikka says. “But seeing your idea go from a napkin sketch to something that helps patients? That’s worth it.”
