Patent ID: 8581589

Claim:
A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system comprising: a computer system configured to operate the MRI system during an imaging process in order to image a subject; an RF system including a receive coil array having a first number of channels configured to acquire signals from the subject during the imaging process; a mode-mixing apparatus configured to receive the signals acquired by the receive coil array in order to form a coil basis set having the first number of channels and the mode-mixing apparatus comprising: a plurality of splitters configured to receive the formed coil basis set and produce a plurality of sub-signals; a plurality of amplifiers configured to adjust the respective sub-signals by a respective adjustable amplification value within a range of non-fixed values; a plurality of phase shifters configured to phase shift the respective sub-signals by a respective adjustable phase-shift value within a range of non-fixed values; a plurality of combiners configured to receive the plurality of amplified and phase shifted sub-signals and produce an output basis set having a second number of channels; and an input configured to receive a selection of at least one of the adjustable respective amplification value and the adjustable respective phase-shift value within a range of non-fixed values.