Xconomy -- NuVasive , as its name suggests, has developed a less invasive way for surgeons to do spinal fusion surgeries. It was a bold and innovative idea when the company was founded in 1995, and when it first brought this system to the U.S. market more than five years ago. Now the leading edge is becoming mainstream as more doctors learn the procedure, and patients like basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton share their NuVasive success stories. Not even hard questions from insurers who balked at paying the bills seem to have slowed the company’s success—or the growth of NuVasive’s shares on Wall Street.
