Patent ID: 7190164

Claim:
A magnetic resonance imaging system comprising: a magnet configured to generate a static magnetic field containing a uniform magnetic region whose magnetic intensity is uniform; a couch movable in a longitudinal direction passing through the uniform magnetic region of the static magnetic field, an object to be imaged being laid on the couch; a reception multiple RF coil including a plurality of coil members positioned at least in the longitudinal direction and formed to have lengths in the longitudinal direction, the plurality of coil members including at least two coil members having lengths in the longitudinal direction different from each other; a position changing unit configured to automatically change a relative position of the couch with respect to the magnet in the longitudinal direction based on the length of each of the plurality of coil members in the longitudinal direction when the object is under imaging; a scanning unit configured to scan the object by applying a given train of pulses to the object at different positions determined by the position changing unit; a reception unit configured to receive through the multiple RF coil an echo signal in response to the train of pulses applied by the scanning unit; a reception-processing unit comprising a selection element configured to automatically select, from the echo signals received individually by the plurality of coil elements, the echo signal received by a coil member located at a center of the uniform region in the longitudinal direction and a processing element configured to process the selected echo signal into echo data; and an image producing unit configured to produce an MR image based on the echo data processed by the reception-processing unit.