Dr. Isaac Moss, an orthopedic surgeon at UConn Health, can see his patient’s spinal column during surgery without cutting the back open or even having to look at a two-dimensional X-ray on a screen.

Edurne Heredia’s lowest lumbar vertebra was not whole. Rather than being mostly round, it was essentially triangular, according to her surgeon, Dr. Herdeep Singh of UConn Health’s Comprehensive Spine ...