Patent ID: 8085046

Claim:
A method for operating a radiofrequency (RF) coil array that includes a plurality of transmission channels and forms a part of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, the steps comprising: a) selecting a desired pattern of RF excitation; b) estimating an RF transmission profile map indicative of the transmission characteristics of the parallel transmission RF coil array; c) determining, from the desired pattern of RF excitation and the estimated RF transmission profile map, a plurality of k-space locations at which RF energy is to be deposited; d) calculating, from the determined k-space locations and the estimated RF transmission profile map, a sparse set of spatial modes indicative of a linear combination of transmission profiles of the RF coil array; e) selecting, from the calculated set of spatial modes, a subset of spatial modes; and f) producing, with the RF coil array and using the selected subset of spatial modes, an RF excitation field characterized by the desired pattern of RF excitation.