3D Digital Modeling of Dental Casts from Their 3D CT Images with Scatter and Beam-Hardening Correction.

Dental 3D modeling plays a pivotal role in digital dentistry, offering precise tools for treatment planning, implant placement, and prosthesis customization. Traditional methods rely on physical plaster casts, which pose challenges in storage, accessibility, and accuracy, fueling interest in digitization using 3D computed tomography (CT) imaging. We introduce a method that can reduce both artifacts simultaneously. To validate the proposed method, we carried out CT scan experiments using plaster dental casts created from dental impressions. After the artifact correction, the CT image quality was greatly improved in terms of image uniformity, contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and edge sharpness. We examined the correction effects on the accuracy of the 3D models generated from the CT images. As referenced to the 3D models derived from the optical scan data, the root mean square (RMS) errors were reduced by 8.8~71.7% for three dental casts of different sizes and shapes. Our method offers a solution to challenges posed by artifacts in CT scanning of plaster dental casts, leading to enhanced 3D model accuracy. This advancement holds promise for dental professionals seeking precise digital modeling for diverse applications in dentistry.

Metal Artifact Reduction in Dental CBCT Images Using Direct Sinogram Correction Combined with Metal Path-Length Weighting.

Metal artifacts in dental computed tomography (CT) images, caused by highly X-ray absorbing objects, such as dental implants or crowns, often more severely compromise image readability than in medical CT images. Since lower tube voltages are used for dental CTs in spite of the more frequent presence of metallic objects in the patient, metal artifacts appear more severely in dental CT images, and the artifacts often persist even after metal artifact correction. The direct sinogram correction (DSC) method, which directly corrects the sinogram using the mapping function derived by minimizing the sinogram inconsistency, works well in the case of mild metal artifacts, but it often fails to correct severe metal artifacts. We propose a modified DSC method to reduce severe metal artifacts, and we have tested it on human dental images. We first segment the metallic objects in the CT image, and then we forward-project the segmented metal mask to identify the metal traces in the projection data with computing the metal path length for the rays penetrating the metal mask. In the sinogram correction with the DSC mapping function, we apply the weighting proportional to the metal path length. We have applied the proposed method to the phantom and patient images taken at the X-ray tube voltage of 90 kVp. We observed that the proposed method outperforms the original DSC method when metal artifacts were severe. However, we need further extensive studies to verify the proposed method for various CT scan conditions with many more patient images.

Cone-Beam Angle Dependency of 3D Models Computed from Cone-Beam CT Images.

Cone-beam dental CT can provide high-precision 3D images of the teeth and surrounding bones. From the 3D CT images, 3D models, also called digital impressions, can be computed for CAD/CAM-based fabrication of dental restorations or orthodontic devices. However, the cone-beam angle-dependent artifacts, mostly caused by the incompleteness of the projection data acquired in the circular cone-beam scan geometry, can induce significant errors in the 3D models. Using a micro-CT, we acquired CT projection data of plaster cast models at several different cone-beam angles, and we investigated the dependency of the model errors on the cone-beam angle in comparison with the reference models obtained from the optical scanning of the plaster models. For the 3D CT image reconstruction, we used the conventional Feldkamp algorithm and the combined half-scan image reconstruction algorithm to investigate the dependency of the model errors on the image reconstruction algorithm. We analyzed the mean of positive deviations and the mean of negative deviations of the surface points on the CT-image-derived 3D models from the reference model, and we compared them between the two image reconstruction algorithms. It has been found that the model error increases as the cone-beam angle increases in both algorithms. However, the model errors are smaller in the combined half-scan image reconstruction when the cone-beam angle is as large as 10 degrees.

Unravelling thermal history during additive manufacturing of martensitic stainless steel.

In-situ thermal cycling neutron diffraction experiments were employed to unravel the effect of thermal history on the evolution of phase stability and internal stresses during the additive manufacturing (AM) process. While the fully-reversible martensite-austenite phase transformation was observed in the earlier thermal cycles where heating temperatures were higher than Af, the subsequent damped thermal cycles exhibited irreversible phase transformation forming reverted austenite. With increasing number of thermal cycles, the thermal stability of the retained austenite increased, which decreased the coefficient of thermal expansion. However, martensite revealed higher compressive residual stresses and lower dislocation density, indicating inhomogeneous distributions of the residual stresses and microstructures on the inside and on the surface of the AM component. The compressive residual stresses that acted on the martensite resulted preferentially from transformation strain and additionally from thermal misfit strain, and the decrease in the dislocation density might have been due to the strong recovery effect near the Ac1 temperature.

Tunable Mechanical and Electrical Properties of Coaxial Electrospun Composite Nanofibers of P(VDF-TrFE) and P(VDF-TrFE-CTFE).

The coaxial core/shell composite electrospun nanofibers consisting of relaxor ferroelectric P(VDF-TrFE-CTFE) and ferroelectric P(VDF-TrFE) polymers are successfully tailored towards superior structural, mechanical, and electrical properties over the individual polymers. The core/shell-TrFE/CTFE membrane discloses a more prominent mechanical anisotropy between the revolving direction (RD) and cross direction (CD) associated with a higher tensile modulus of 26.9 MPa and good strength-ductility balance, beneficial from a better degree of nanofiber alignment, the increased density, and C-F bonding. The interfacial coupling between the terpolymer P(VDF-TrFE-CTFE) and copolymer P(VDF-TrFE) is responsible for comparable full-frequency dielectric responses between the core/shell-TrFE/CTFE and pristine terpolymer. Moreover, an impressive piezoelectric coefficient up to 50.5 pm/V is achieved in the core/shell-TrFE/CTFE composite structure. Our findings corroborate the promising approach of coaxial electrospinning in efficiently tuning mechanical and electrical performances of the electrospun core/shell composite nanofiber membranes-based electroactive polymers (EAPs) actuators as artificial muscle implants.

Electrical conductivity and permittivity maps of brain tissues derived from water content based on T1 -weighted acquisition.

PURPOSE: To develop an electrical properties tomography (EPT) technique that can provide in vivo electrical conductivity and permittivity images of biological tissue without performing complex-valued radiofrequency field measurements. THEORY AND METHODS: Electrical conductivity and permittivity images are modeled as a monotonic function of tissues' water content (W) under the principle of Maxwell's mixture theory. Water content maps are estimated from two spin-echo images having different repetition times (TRs). For the modeling functions, physically measured parameters (electrical properties, water content, and T1 ) of brain cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), gray matter, and white matter are used as landmark literature references. The formulations are validated by a developed electrolyte-protein phantom and by human brain studies at 3 Tesla (T). RESULTS: The electrical properties (EPs) of the phantom estimated by the proposed method match well with the values measured on the bench. The conductivity and permittivity maps from all experiments show uncompromised spatial resolution without boundary artifacts and higher contrast when compared with water content maps. CONCLUSIONS: Human brain and phantom EP images suggest that water content is a dominating factor in determining the electrical properties of tissues. Despite possible literature inaccuracies, the proposed method offers EP maps that can provide complementary information to current approaches, to facilitate EPT scans in clinical applications. Magn Reson Med 77:1094-1103, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

A Ring Artifact Correction Method: Validation by Micro-CT Imaging with Flat-Panel Detectors and a 2D Photon-Counting Detector.

We introduce an efficient ring artifact correction method for a cone-beam computed tomography (CT). In the first step, we correct the defective pixels whose values are close to zero or saturated in the projection domain. In the second step, we compute the mean value at each detector element along the view angle in the sinogram to obtain the one-dimensional (1D) mean vector, and we then compute the 1D correction vector by taking inverse of the mean vector. We multiply the correction vector with the sinogram row by row over all view angles. In the third step, we apply a Gaussian filter on the difference image between the original CT image and the corrected CT image obtained in the previous step. The filtered difference image is added to the corrected CT image to compensate the possible contrast anomaly that may appear due to the contrast change in the sinogram after removing stripe artifacts. We applied the proposed method to the projection data acquired by two flat-panel detectors (FPDs) and a silicon-based photon-counting X-ray detector (PCXD). Micro-CT imaging experiments of phantoms and a small animal have shown that the proposed method can greatly reduce ring artifacts regardless of detector types. Despite the great reduction of ring artifacts, the proposed method does not compromise the original spatial resolution and contrast.

A metal artifact reduction method for a dental CT based on adaptive local thresholding and prior image generation.

BACKGROUND: Metal artifacts appearing as streaks and shadows often compromise readability of computed tomography (CT) images. Particularly in a dental CT in which high resolution imaging is crucial for precise preparation of dental implants or orthodontic devices, reduction of metal artifacts is very important. However, metal artifact reduction algorithms developed for a general medical CT may not work well in a dental CT since teeth themselves also have high attenuation coefficients. METHODS: To reduce metal artifacts in dental CT images, we made prior images by weighted summation of two images: one, a streak-reduced image reconstructed from the metal-region-modified projection data, and the other a metal-free image reconstructed from the original projection data followed by metal region deletion. To make the streak-reduced image, we precisely segmented the metal region based on adaptive local thresholding, and then, we modified the metal region on the projection data using linear interpolation. We made forward projection of the prior image to make the prior projection data. We replaced the pixel values at the metal region in the original projection data with the ones taken from the prior projection data, and then, we finally reconstructed images from the replaced projection data. To validate the proposed method, we made computational simulations and also we made experiments on teeth phantoms using a micro-CT. We compared the results with the ones obtained by the fusion prior-based metal artifact reduction (FP-MAR) method. RESULTS: In the simulation studies using a bilateral prostheses phantom and a dental phantom, the proposed method showed a performance similar to the FP-MAR method in terms of the edge profile and the structural similarity index when an optimal global threshold was chosen for the FP-MAR method. In the imaging studies of teeth phantoms, the proposed method showed a better performance than the FP-MAR method in reducing the streak artifacts without introducing any contrast anomaly. CONCLUSIONS: The simulation and experimental imaging studies suggest that the proposed method can be used for reducing metal artifacts in dental CT images.

Energy Calibration of a CdTe Photon Counting Spectral Detector with Consideration of its Non-Convergent Behavior.

Fast and accurate energy calibration of photon counting spectral detectors (PCSDs) is essential for their biomedical applications to identify and characterize bio-components or contrast agents in tissues. Using the x-ray tube voltage as a reference for energy calibration is known to be an efficient method, but there has been no consideration in the energy calibration of non-convergent behavior of PCSDs. We observed that a single pixel mode (SPM) CdTe PCSD based on Medipix-2 shows some non-convergent behaviors in turning off the detector elements when a high enough threshold is applied to the comparator that produces a binary photon count pulse. More specifically, the detector elements are supposed to stop producing photon count pulses once the threshold reaches a point of the highest photon energy determined by the tube voltage. However, as the x-ray exposure time increases, the threshold giving 50% of off pixels also increases without converging to a point. We established a method to take account of the non-convergent behavior in the energy calibration. With the threshold-to-photon energy mapping function established by the proposed method, we could better identify iodine component in a phantom consisting of iodine and other components.

Time-multiplexed two-channel capacitive radiofrequency hyperthermia with nanoparticle mediation.

BACKGROUND: Capacitive radiofrequency (RF) hyperthermia suffers from excessive temperature rise near the electrodes and poorly localized heat transfer to the deep-seated tumor region even though it is known to have potential to cure ill-conditioned tumors. To better localize heat transfer to the deep-seated target region in which electrical conductivity is elevated by nanoparticle mediation, two-channel capacitive RF heating has been tried on a phantom. METHODS: We made a tissue-mimicking phantom consisting of two compartments, a tumor-tissue-mimicking insert against uniform background agarose. The tumor-tissue-mimicking insert was made to have higher electrical conductivity than the normal-tissue-mimicking background by applying magnetic nanoparticle suspension to the insert. Two electrode pairs were attached on the phantom surface by equal-angle separation to apply RF electric field to the phantom. To better localize heat transfer to the tumor-tissue-mimicking insert, RF power with a frequency of 26 MHz was delivered to the two channels in a time-multiplexed way. To monitor the temperature rise inside the phantom, MR thermometry was performed at a 3T MRI intermittently during the RF heating. Finite-difference-time-domain (FDTD) electromagnetic and thermal simulations on the phantom model were also performed to verify the experimental results. RESULTS: As compared to the one-channel RF heating, the two-channel RF heating with time-multiplexed driving improved the spatial localization of heat transfer to the tumor-tissue-mimicking region in both the simulation and experiment. The two-channel RF heating also reduced the temperature rise near the electrodes significantly. CONCLUSIONS: Time-multiplexed two-channel capacitive RF heating has the capability to better localize heat transfer to the nanoparticle-mediated tumor region which has higher electrical conductivity than the background normal tissues.

Iterative multi-channel radio frequency pulse calibration with improving B1 field uniformity in high field MRI.

BACKGROUND: In high field MRI capable of multi-channel radio frequency (RF) transmission, B 1 shimming is a time-consuming job because conventional B 1 shimming techniques require B 1 mapping for each channel. After acquiring the complex-numbered B 1 field maps, the optimal amplitude and phase of the driving RF pulse are determined for each channel to maximize the B 1 field uniformity in conventional B 1 shimming. However, time-consuming B 1 shimming procedures at the pre-scan may not be tolerated in the clinical imaging in which patient throughput is one of the important factors. METHODS: To avoid the time-consuming B 1 mapping, the first spin echo and the stimulated echo were repeatedly acquired in the slice-selective stimulated echo sequence without imaging gradients. A cost function of the amplitudes and phases of the driving RF pulse for every channel was defined in a way that the ratio between the spin echo and stimulated echo amplitudes rapidly converged to √ 2. The amplitude and phase of the driving RF pulse were iteratively modified over the repeating RF pulse sequence so that the cost function was minimized. RESULTS: From the finite-difference-time-domain (FDTD) electromagnetic field simulations with a human body model placed in a birdcage coil operating at 3 T, it was observed that the RF pulse calibration with iterative cost function minimization can give improvement of B1 field uniformity as well as flip-angle calibration. The experiments at 3 T also showed improvement of RF field uniformity in the phantom imaging studies. CONCLUSIONS: Since the proposed RF pulse calibration is not based on B 1 mapping, the RF pulse calibration time could be much shorter than the B 1-mapping based methods. The proposed method is expected to be a practical substitute for the B 1-mapping-based B 1 shimming methods when long pre-scan time is not tolerable.

Nanoparticle-mediated radiofrequency capacitive hyperthermia: A phantom study with magnetic resonance thermometry.

In hyperthermia, focusing heat generation on tumour tissues and precisely monitoring the temperature around the tumour region is important. To focus heat generation in radiofrequency (RF) capacitive heating, magnetic nanoparticles suspended in sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) solution were used, based on the hypothesis that the nanoparticle suspension would elevate electrical conductivity and RF current density at the nanoparticle-populated region. A tissue-mimicking phantom with compartments with and without nanoparticles was made for RF capacitive heating experiments. An FDTD model of the phantom was developed to simulate temperature increases at the phantom. To monitor temperature inside the phantom, MR thermometry was performed intermittently during RF heating inside a 3Tesla MRI magnet bore. FDTD simulation on the phantom model was performed in two steps: electromagnetic simulation to compute specific absorption rate and thermal simulation to compute temperature changes. Experimental temperature maps were similar to simulated temperature maps, demonstrating that nanoparticle-populated regions drew more heat than background regions. Nanoparticle-mediated RF heating could mitigate concerns about normal tissue death during RF capacitive hyperthermia.

Effect of Strain Rate on Hydrogen Embrittlement of Ti6Al4V Alloy.

The phenomenon of hydrogen embrittlement (HE) in metals and alloys, which determines the performance of components in hydrogen environments, has recently been drawing considerable attention. This study explores the interplay between strain rates and solute hydrogen in inducing HE of Ti6Al4V alloy. For the hydrogen-charged sample, as the strain rate was decreased from 10-2/s to 10-5/s, the ductility decreased significantly, but the HE effect on mechanical strength was negligible. The low strain rate (LSR) conditions facilitated the development of high-angle grain boundaries, providing more pathways for hydrogen diffusion and accumulation. The presence of solute hydrogen intensified the formation of nano/micro-voids and intergranular cracking tendencies, with micro-crack occurrences observed exclusively in the LSR conditions. These factors expanded the brittle hydrogen-damaged region more deeply into the interior of the lattice. This, in turn, accelerated both crack initiation and intergranular crack propagation, finally resulting in a considerable HE effect and a reduction in ductility at the LSR. The current study underscores the influence of strain rate on HE, enhancing the predictability of longevity and improving the reliability of components operating in hydrogen-rich environments under various loading conditions.

Deciphering Hydrogen Embrittlement Mechanisms in Ti6Al4V Alloy: Role of Solute Hydrogen and Hydride Phase.

Ti6Al4V (Ti64) is a versatile material, finding applications in a wide range of industries due to its unique properties. However, hydrogen embrittlement (HE) poses a challenge in hydrogen-rich environments, leading to a notable reduction in strength and ductility. This study investigates the complex interplay of solute hydrogen (SH) and hydride phase (HP) formation in Ti64 by employing two different current densities during the charging process. Nanoindentation measurements reveal distinct micro-mechanical behavior in base metal, SH, and HP, providing crucial insights into HE mechanisms affecting macro-mechanical behavior. The fractography and microstructural analysis elucidate the role of SH and HP in hydrogen-assisted cracking behaviors. The presence of SH heightens intergranular cracking tendencies. In contrast, the increased volume of HP provides sites for crack initiation and propagation, resulting in a two-layer brittle fracture pattern. The current study contributes to a comprehensive understanding of HE in Ti6Al4V, essential for developing hydrogen-resistant materials.

Uncommon deformation mechanisms during fatigue-crack propagation in nanocrystalline alloys.

The irreversible damage at cracks during the fatigue of crystalline solids is well known. Here we report on in situ high-energy x-ray evidence of reversible fatigue behavior in a nanocrystalline NiFe alloy both in the plastic zone and around the crack tip. In the plastic zone, the deformation is fully recoverable as the crack propagates, and the plastic deformation invokes reversible interactions of dislocation and twinning in the nanograins. But around the crack tip lies a regime with reversible grain lattice reorientation promoted by a change of local stress state. These observations suggest unprecedented fatigue deformation mechanisms in nanostructured systems that are not addressed theoretically.

Optimization of Aging Temperature and Heat-Treatment Pathways in Additively Manufactured 17-4PH Stainless Steel.

This study investigates the tensile behaviors of additively manufactured (AM) 17-4PH stainless steels heat-treated within various temperature ranges from 400 °C to 700 °C in order to identify the effective aging temperature. Despite an aging treatment of 400-460 °C increasing the retained austenite content, an enhancement of the tensile properties was achieved without a strength-ductility trade-off owing to precipitation hardening by the Cu particles. Due to the intricate evolution of the microstructure, aging treatments above 490 °C led to a loss in yield strength and ductility. A considerable rise in strength and a decrease in ductility were brought about by the increase in the fraction of precipitation-hardened martensitic matrix in aging treatments over 640 °C. The impact of heat-treatment pathways on aging effectiveness and tensile anisotropy was then examined. Direct aging at 482 °C for an hour had hardly any effect on wrought 17-4PH, but it increased the yield strength of AM counterparts from 436-457 to 588-604 MPa. A solid-solution treatment at 1038 °C for one hour resulted in a significant drop in the austenite fraction, which led to an increase in the yield (from 436-457 to 841-919 MPa) and tensile strengths (from 1106-1127 to 1254-1256 MPa) with a sacrifice in ductility. Improved strength and ductility were realized by a solid-solution followed by an aging treatment, achieving 1371-1399 MPa. The tensile behaviors of AM 17-4PH were isotropic both parallel and perpendicular to the building direction.

Tracheal replacement with fresh and cryopreserved aortic allograft in adult dog.

BACKGROUND: Many reports have described tracheal replacement using aortic allografts, with varying results and minimal understanding of the mechanism of tracheal regeneration. The present study attempted tracheal regeneration in adult dogs using fresh aortic allografts (FAA) and cryopreserved aortic allografts (CAA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twelve adult beagles underwent tracheal resection and were transplanted with FAA (n = 5) or CAA (n = 7). Animals were followed-up with serial radiography and magnetic resonance imaging, and were euthanized at predetermined times up to 16 mo post-surgery. RESULTS: There were no procedural deaths, but two animals died due to stent migration. Stent migration occurred in seven of the 12 animals. Evidence of regeneration of tracheal epithelium was observed in the surviving animals, with the transformation of squamous metaplasia to mucociliary epithelium being time-dependent. Islet of cartilage were observed in animals after 6 mo, but ring-like cartilage structures were absent, even after 16 mo. During autopsy, axial graft contractions up to 68% were observed. Serial radiographs show that most of the contraction occurred within 1 mo. The results of the MRI showed that the graft area was strongly enhanced for up to 2 mo, but was clearly reduced after 3 mo. CONCLUSIONS: Tracheal replacement in adult dogs using FAA or CAA is feasible. However, immaturity of the neotracheal cartilage did not allow the tissue to function as native tracheal tissue. Prolonged stenting should be considered in adult if the procedure is to be clinically contemplated.

Bone-induced streak artifact suppression in sparse-view CT image reconstruction.

BACKGROUND: In sparse-view CT imaging, strong streak artifacts may appear around bony structures and they often compromise the image readability. Compressed sensing (CS) or total variation (TV) minimization-based image reconstruction method has reduced the streak artifacts to a great extent, but, sparse-view CT imaging still suffers from residual streak artifacts. We introduce a new bone-induced streak artifact reduction method in the CS-based image reconstruction. METHODS: We firstly identify the high-intensity bony regions from the image reconstructed by the filtered backprojection (FBP) method, and we calculate the sinogram stemming from the bony regions only. Then, we subtract the calculated sinogram, which stands for the bony regions, from the measured sinogram before performing the CS-based image reconstruction. The image reconstructed from the subtracted sinogram will stand for the soft tissues with little streak artifacts on it. To restore the original image intensity in the bony regions, we add the bony region image, which has been identified from the FBP image, to the soft tissue image to form a combined image. Then, we perform the CS-based image reconstruction again on the measured sinogram using the combined image as the initial condition of the iteration. For experimental validation of the proposed method, we take images of a contrast phantom and a rat using a micro-CT and we evaluate the reconstructed images based on two figures of merit, relative mean square error and total variation caused by the streak artifacts. RESULTS: The images reconstructed by the proposed method have been found to have smaller streak artifacts than the ones reconstructed by the original CS-based method when visually inspected. The quantitative image evaluation studies have also shown that the proposed method outperforms the conventional CS-based method. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed method can effectively suppress streak artifacts stemming from bony structures in sparse-view CT imaging.

Transient Phase-Driven Cyclic Deformation in Additively Manufactured 15-5 PH Steel.

The present work extends the examination of selective laser melting (SLM)-fabricated 15-5 PH steel with the 8%-transient-austenite-phase towards fully-reversed strain-controlled low-cycle fatigue (LCF) test. The cyclic-deformation response and microstructural evolution were investigated via in-situ neutron-diffraction measurements. The transient-austenite-phase rapidly transformed into the martensite phase in the initial cyclic-hardening stage, followed by an almost complete martensitic transformation in the cyclic-softening and steady stage. The compressive stress was much greater than the tensile stress at the same strain amplitude. The enhanced martensitic transformation associated with lower dislocation densities under compression predominantly governed such a striking tension-compression asymmetry in the SLM-built 15-5 PH.

Microstructural Evolution and Mechanical Properties of Non-Equiatomic (CoNi)74.66Cr17Fe8C0.34 High-Entropy Alloy.

In this study, we manufactured a non-equiatomic (CoNi)74.66Cr17Fe8C0.34 high-entropy alloy (HEA) consisting of a single-phase face-centered-cubic structure. We applied in situ neutron diffraction coupled with electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to investigate its tensile properties, microstructural evolution, lattice strains and texture development, and the stacking fault energy. The non-equiatomic (CoNi)74.66Cr17Fe8C0.34 HEA revealed a good combination of strength and ductility in mechanical properties compared to the equiatomic CoNiCrFe HEA, due to both stable solid solution and precipitation-strengthened effects. The non-equiatomic stoichiometry resulted in not only a lower electronegativity mismatch, indicating a more stable state of solid solution, but also a higher stacking fault energy (SFE, ~50 mJ/m2) due to the higher amount of Ni and the lower amount of Cr. This higher SFE led to a more active motion of dislocations relative to mechanical twinning, resulting in severe lattice distortion near the grain boundaries and dislocation entanglement near the twin boundaries. The abrupt increase in the strain hardening rate (SHR) at the 1~3% strain during tensile deformation might be attributed to the unusual stress triaxiality in the {200} grain family. The current findings provide new perspectives for designing non-equiatomic HEAs.