Patent ID: 7498809

Claim:
A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus configured for imaging a selected portion of a subject placed in a static magnetic field, said magnetic resonance imaging apparatus comprising RF transmitting means for applying an RF excitation pulse to said subject an RF irradiation control means for controlling irradiation phase of the RF excitation pulse, RF receiving means for detecting nuclear magnetic resonance signals generated from the subject, a control means for controlling the RF transmitting means, the RF irradiation control means and the RF receiving means, and an image formation means for reconstructing an image of said selected portion of the subject by using the nuclear magnetic resonance signals, said RF transmitting means including a first coil and one or more additional coils, wherein the RF irradiation control means controls RF irradiation so that the RF excitation pulse is simultaneously applied to each of said first RF excitation coil and said one or more additional RF excitation coils such that within a single simultaneously applied RF excitation, a phase of a second half of a waveform of an RF excitation output of at least one of said first coil and said one or more additional RF excitation coils, after the temporal center of the simultaneously applied RF excitation pulse, is maintained to be held different by 180° from a phase of the first half of the pulse waveform, of the RF excitation output, such that the RF excitation is selectively applied only to a local region of the selected portion of the subject.