Patent ID: 7408349

Claim:
A magnetic resonance imaging system, comprising: at least one magnetic field generator positioned to create a field through an imaging volume configured to receive at least a portion of a sample to be imaged; at least one transmitting antenna positioned to apply a radio frequency signal to at least a portion of the sample within the imaging volume; a plurality of receiving antennas to detect magnetic resonance signals from the at least a portion of the sample within the imaging volume, and generate output signals; a configurable matrix receiver coupled to receive and process the output signals from the receiving antennas, the configurable matrix receiver comprising: a plurality of channels, wherein each channel comprises an amplifier having an input, an output and a respective gain, and an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) coupled to the output of the amplifier; and a plurality of switches corresponding to the plurality of channels, wherein each switch has a first position coupling an output of one amplifier to an input of another amplifier, and a second position coupling an input of one amplifier to an output of a receiving antenna; and a digital signal processor (DSP) configured to receive digital signals from each of the ADCs, and to select a one of the digital signals based, at least in part, on predetermined criteria.