Patent ID: 8076938

Claim:
A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system comprising: a resonance assembly comprising a plurality of gradient coils and a plurality of RF source coils; an RF transceiver system coupled to the plurality of RF source coils and configured to receive magnetic resonance (MR) data from the plurality of RF source coils; and a controller programmed to: receive MR data of an imaging subject from each of the plurality of RF source coils; generate MR data for a virtual coil; determine a set of weights based on the MR data received from each RF source coil and the MR data generated for the virtual coil; generate a complete MR data set for the virtual coil based only on at least a portion of the MR data from at least two of the RF source coils and the set of weights; and reconstruct an image based on the complete MR data set for the virtual coil.