Patent ID: 7576536

Claim:
A method of parallel imaging in a MRI system, comprising: receiving M input channel signals, where M is a integer, wherein each of the M channel signals is a complex linear combination of L receiver signals corresponding to L receiver elements, wherein the L receiver elements are L RF coil elements of a magnetic resonance imaging coil configuration, wherein the M input channel signals have sensitivity characteristics, e 1 (x, y, z), e 2 (x, y, z), . . . , e M (x, y, z), as a function of x, y, and z, over a region of interest; defining P mode sets, where P is an integer greater than or equal to 2, wherein the P mode sets have N 1 , N 2 , . . . , N P output channel signals, respectively, where N 1 , N 2 , . . . , N P are integers, wherein each output channel signal of each of the P mode sets is a complex linear combination of one or more of the M input channel signals, selecting an i th mode set of P mode sets for production of one or more output channel signals corresponding to the selected mode set, where i is an integer in the range from 1 to P, wherein the one or more output channel signals for each of the P mode sets has a set of corresponding one or more sensitivity profiles distinct from the set of one or more sensitivity profiles of the other of the P mode sets, wherein at least two of the P mode sets have different fields of view in the region of interest, wherein selection of one of the P mode sets is based on the sensitivity profiles of the P mode sets over the region of interest, wherein each of the M, P, N 1 , N 2 , and N P integers may be different or may be the same as any of the others, wherein the one or more output channel signals corresponding to the selected mode set are utilizable in producing an MRI image.