Patent ID: 8786282

Claim:
A method to operate a magnetic resonance data acquisition device having a radio-frequency (RF) antenna comprising multiple transmission channels that are each individually operable to radiate RF energy, said RF antenna comprising antenna hardware having inherent operating limitations, said method comprising: via a user interface of a control unit for said magnetic resonance data acquisition device, designating at least one image acquisition item selected from the group consisting of a slice having a non-cuboid shape from which image data are to be acquired, a slice having a shape adapted to a target volume from which image data are to be acquired, and a saturation volume adapted in shape to a target volume from which image data are to be acquired; in a processor in said control unit, automatically limiting the designated image acquisition item, designated via said user interface, dependent on said antenna hardware of said RF antenna, to produce an antenna-limited image acquisition item from which said image data can be acquired without exceeding said operating limitations of said antenna hardware; in said processor, automatically determining, from said antenna-limited image acquisition item, a protocol for operating said magnetic resonance data acquisition unit to acquire said image data by determining individual operating parameters for the respective transmission channels of said RF antenna that cause RF energy to be radiated from said individual transmission channels to acquire said image data without exceeding said operating limitations of said antenna hardware, and embodying said operating parameters for said individual transmission channels in said protocol; and said control unit as an electronic signal having a format for making said protocol available at an output of said magnetic resonance data acquisition unit to acquire said image data according to said protocol.