ASK THE EXPERT
COSMIN MIHAIU
At first glance, COSMIN MIHAIU may seem like your average 20-something millennial. But, at closer look, there’ s nothing average about this young entrepreneur and tech expert from Romania. Mihaiu is the CEO and co-founder of Medical Interactive Recovery Assistant( MIRA) Rehab, which develops software that engages patients in interactive and therapeutic games, turning boring physical rehabilitation into a fun recovery experience.
In this Pulse feature, Mihaiu walks us through the road he has taken in his journey toward innovation.
Pulse: What sparked this innovative idea? Cosmin: MIRA started when me and three friends( Alina Calin, Andrei Dascalu and Andrei Cantea) were brainstorming for an idea for the Microsoft Imagine Cup— a competition for Information Technology students around the world. I shared with them how, after I broke my arm when I was seven years old, I had to do simple yet repetitive and painful exercises to recover. We explored the physiotherapy market and realized specific videogames for people in need of physiotherapy would aid in their rehabilitation. We built MIRA for the Microsoft Imagine Cup competition, but I don’ t think we were thinking about the business side of it then. We were more interested in building something great, something useful, worthy for the Microsoft Imagine Cup World Finals. After the competition and its great feedback, we decided to continue the project, eventually turning it into a business with the MIRA product.
P: What was the innovation process that led to the development of MIRA? C: My colleagues and I saw how patients find physical therapy cumbersome and how some physiotherapists were using commercially available games for the Nintendo Wii or Microsoft Kinect for XBOX 360 to enlighten their patients’ recovery. However, these games were meant for healthy people and some patients would find them too difficult. We decided to build something more specific, a tool for physiotherapists to help their patients. Furthermore, as each patient is different, we had to build MIRA as customizable software with many options so therapists
may adapt the software to fit their patients’ needs.
P: As a young entrepreneur, what business tips can you share to those wanting to start their own business? C: The best piece of advice I can think of is to have fun! A startup is challenging, filled with ups and downs, which makes the experience exciting and demanding. It’ s important to remember and celebrate the great moments. Also, no matter how exciting it is, I would suggest having some free time in other activities— it helps to bring new perspective and fuel the energy to keep going.
P: What has been your greatest challenge in creating and promoting MIRA? C: I believe the health-care industry is a great field, although conservative. This is for a good reason, as products need to be safe before being used with patients. The process sometimes takes a lot of time before products can be trialed or tested and, because MIRA was a new concept, we had to find people who believe in it and are willing to test it. When MIRA started being used in institutions, one of the greatest feelings we had, and still have today, is when we see patients getting better with what we built for their rehabilitation.
P: Based on your research for the product, what were some of the factors that made it challenging for patients to follow their physical therapy treatment? C: Some patients follow their physiotherapist’ s advice and exercise at home as they are meant to. However, a few other
64 PULSE ■ June 2016