Pictures of smiling babies greet visitors to MD Orthopaedics’ manufacturing facility in rural Wayland, Iowa. They are framed on the wall, along with letters from grateful parents in England, Italy, the Middle East, and across the United States who are thanking medical device designer John Mitchell for taking a simple challenge.

In 2002, renowned orthopaedic surgeon and founder of the ‘Ponseti Method’, Dr. Ignacio Ponseti, was frustrated with the current devices used to treat clubfoot, a crippling disease that affects the leg muscles in infants, turning the feet inward. The ‘Ponseti Method’ is the only non-surgical method to treat clubfoot and involves putting infants in four to five different casts, manipulating the foot back into position. The devices currently being used to treat patients were rigid and caused blistering and discomfort, so Dr. Ponseti approached Mitchell and challenged him to build a better, more comfortable device.

Mitchell took the challenge to heart and quit his job in the spring of 2002 to work on prototypes. The braces, which look like sandals attached by a metal rod, are made from bendable plastic that is molded to fit a patient’s foot and secured by leather straps. “I incorporated MD Orthopaedics in my garage in 2004,” said Mitchell, who borrowed money against his house to start his venture. In the beginning, success was hard to find. Mitchell toiled on the braces in his garage and then would drive 45 miles to Iowa City to show Dr. Ponseti his efforts. “I probably went through 25 revisions before I found a brace that met the doctor’s approval. At that time I was extended financially as far as you can get,” said Mitchell.

Mitchell, a deeply religious man, had faith in his purpose. “God was using me to get something accomplished,” he said. In early 2005, Mitchell brought Dr. Ponseti another version of an experimental brace. Dr. Ponseti wasn’t convinced that it was ready, but a mother in the waiting room was willing to have her child try it. After two weeks her child was showing marked improvement and, according to the mother, the boot didn’t cause her daughter to cry. Dr. Ponseti and Mitchell knew they had a winner. From that point on, MD Orthopaedics has never looked back.

Mitchell credits most of his success to God and the sense of purpose that was instilled in him. He also credits a FastTrac educational training course he took from the University of Iowa Small Business Development Center (SBDC). “FastTrac provided me with the knowledge and business skills I needed to succeed,” said Mitchell. The course is designed to give entrepreneurs the business skills necessary to start a business. “If anybody is looking to start a business, the course, and the help that the SBDC provided, is worth its weight in gold,” said Mitchell. He was also impressed with the resource book given to all participants and used the book as a reference many times when he had a pressing business issue.

To date, MD Orthopaedics has helped more than 30,000 infants in 60 countries and is the only clubfoot brace that treats patients using the ‘Ponseti Method’. MD Orthopaedics currently employs 15 full-time and part-time employees and has an office and manufacturing facility in Wayland. Mitchell’s current goal is to develop a brace that is cheaper to manufacture and that can be used to help patients in third world countries who can’t afford the current model, which costs around $330. “I tell my workers that we are impacting lives every day,” said Mitchell. He has the framed stories to prove it.