Mr imaging using parallel signal acquisition

Abstract

The invention relates to a method of MR imaging of at least a portion of a body () of a patient placed in an examination volume of an MR device (). The object of the invention is to provide an improved, i.e. faster, parallel imaging technique. The invention proposes to acquire a survey signal data set () at a low image resolution, which survey signal data set () includes MR signals received in parallel or successively via a volume RF coil () and via a set of array RF coils (). Spatial sensitivity profiles () of the array RF coils () are determined from the low resolution data. As a next step, a reference scan is performed in which a reference signal data set () is acquired at intermediate resolution solely via the array RF coils (). The spatial sensitivity profiles () of the array RF coils () are determined from the data acquired at intermediate resolution and from the spatial sensitivity profiles () determined before at low resolution. Finally, a diagnostic scan is performed, in which a diagnostic signal data set () is acquired in parallel via the array RF coils () at high resolution. The diagnostic signal data set () may be acquired in a sub-sampled fashion. A diagnostic MR image () is then reconstructed from the diagnostic signal data set () and from the spatial sensitivity profiles () determined at the intermediate resolution, for example by using the SENSE or SMASH algorithm.