Patent ID: 6751496
Filing Date: 2004-06-15
Classification: G01R

Abstract:
In a MRI system having multiple data acquisition channels for producing images from NMR signals emanating from a subject irradiated with an RF excitation pulse in the presence of a static polarizing magnetic field, said system having a sandwiched solenoidal array coil for receiving the NMR signals emanating from a region of interest in the subject, said sandwiched solenoidal array coil comprising a plurality of coil elements wherein at least one array coil element is a first solenoidal loop coil sandwiched between a pair of solenoidal coil sections having opposite conductor winding directions and which form a second array coil element distinct from said first coil, a method for providing field-of-view (FOV) switching without incurring substantial data fold-over artifacts or significantly increasing data acquisition time, comprising:a) providing NMR signals received by the first solenoidal loop coil to a first data acquisition channel of the MRI system for processing; b) providing NMR signals received by the sandwiching pair of solenoidal coil sections which form the separate second array coil element to a second data acquisition channel of the MRI system for processing; c) during an MRI scanning sequence, acquiring and storing data from both the first and the second data acquisition channels simultaneously; and d) after acquiring NMR signal data for producing an image, selecting between: (i) processing NMR signal data acquired from both the first and the second data acquisition channels together to produce a large FOV image or (ii) processing NMR signal data acquired from either said first or said second data acquisition channel alone to produce a small FOV image.