Patent ID: 8692550

Claim:
A method for acquiring magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signals, including: applying, by a RF excitation device, one or more than one RF pulse, wherein each RF pulse carries at least two frequency components, and a slice/slab selection gradient to a subject, so that at least two slices/slabs of the subject respectively corresponding to the at least two frequency components are excited simultaneously; applying, by a gradient output device, a plurality of spatial encoding gradients to the subject; applying, by the gradient output device, a plurality of separation gradients to the subject for separating the at least two slices/slabs; determining the number of the plurality of separation gradients; and applying, by the gradient output device, at least one coherent refocusing gradient to the subject between the plurality of separation gradients, wherein the determination of the number of the plurality of separation gradients includes determining a signal attenuation threshold.