Patent ID: 7915892

Claim:
A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus that applies a gradient magnetic field and a radio-frequency magnetic field to a subject in a static magnetic field to image the subject based on magnetic resonance signals emitted from the subject, said MRI apparatus comprising: a unit which generates K (K being a natural number greater than or equal to 2) transmission radio-frequency pulse signals required to produce the radio-frequency magnetic field; an allocation unit which allocates the K transmission radio-frequency pulse signals to K of M (M being a natural number greater than or equal to 2, and M>K) transmission signal paths; a connection unit to which at most M radio-frequency coils are attachable and which selectively connects the M transmission signal paths and M reception signal paths to the radio-frequency coils; a selection unit which selects N (N being a natural number greater than or equal to 2, wherein N<M and N>K) magnetic resonance signals which are respectively received by the at most M radio-frequency coils and transmitted through the at most M reception signal paths; and a unit which performs reception processing for each of the selected N magnetic resonance signals.