Wrong-level spine surgeries—when a surgeon accidentally operates on the wrong vertebra—occur with alarming frequency. Studies show that roughly half of U.S. spine surgeons will operate on the wrong level at least once in their career, making this the second most common type of wrong site surgery error in the U.S. Surgeons take meticulous care to avoid such errors. Getting it right requires time, diligence, and expertise and presents a burden in the OR.
The main challenge, says Hopkins biomedical engineering p…