Dr. Stephen Smith, Beacon Medical Group neurosurgeon, and Dr. Ryan Roeder, Notre Dame professor of aerospace, share a vision.
Smith and Roeder have developed an implant to advance the science of spine fusion surgery. They wanted to give patients with chronic back pain a new option in spinal surgery. Their implant aims to foster faster, more complete healing.
As of spring 2025, their implant has improved outcomes for over 600 patients with 1,200 implants.
When Smith and Roeder speak on the national stage, they describe how the technology came from South Bend. They share that Smith performed the first spinal fusion surgery using their implant at Beacon Health System.
“To be some small part of that going forward is also part of my own hope, my own mission,” Smith said in a press release. “It’s the mission of Beacon, it’s the mission of engineers at Notre Dame, it’s the mission of, I think, humanity.”
In May 2023, their spine implant received clearance from the FDA, allowing it to be placed on the market. After Smith completed the first surgery with the new implant, he could see the difference the new material made.
“It went to work right away,” he said. “The porous surface drew in blood and growth factors. On X-rays, it immediately looked like living bone, and on the three-month follow-up, new bone was already present.”
The company has attracted a new round of investors—including Notre Dame’s Pit Road Fund, an fund launched by the IDEA Center to accelerate faculty, student, alumni and community startups.
Smith said it was a long process to take an innovative idea and see it through the process of commercialization. He said the most satisfying part is where it happened.
“It means a lot being from this city that this innovation happened here,” Smith said. “Others might view South Bend as a small town, but there is nothing about our skills, talent or service that is small. I want to show my patients that they are getting better care here than they would get anywhere else, and I’m glad this has been part of that mission.”
