Patent ID: 7898253

Claim:
An apparatus for removing artifacts in magnetic resonance imaging, comprising the steps of: a magnetic resonance scanner that acquires a plurality of 3D data sets of magnetic resonance data from a subject by irradiating the subject with a plurality of radio-frequency pulses that excite nuclear spins in a plurality of slabs in the subject, each 3D data set being comprised of a plurality of 2D data sets, each of said 3D data sets comprising 2D data sets respectively acquired from slabs in the subject that do not overlap with slabs for 2D data sets in others of said 3D data sets, and containing 2D data sets from slabs that overlap slabs for which said 2D data sets are acquired in others of said 3D data sets; a processor configured to form, for each of said overlapped slabs, a weighted sum of all of the 2D data sets acquired therefrom, to obtain weighted sum data, and to implement a maximum intensity projection of all of said 2D data sets therefrom, to obtain maximum intensity projection data, and to superimpose said weighted sum data and said maximum intensity projection data to generate generated 2D data for that overlapped slab; and said processor being configured to implement a maximum intensity projection of the 3D data sets using the respective 2D data sets acquired from non-overlapped slabs in the respective 3D data sets and the generated 2D data for each overlapped slab, to generate final maximum intensity projection data, and to make said final maximum intensity projection data available in a form allowing reconstruction of a magnetic resonance image of the subject therefrom.