Patent Document ID: 9414766
Application ID: 13581209
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for reconstructing a plurality of images depicting a subject from k-space data that is simultaneously acquired from a corresponding plurality of slice locations with a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, the steps of the method comprising: a) simultaneously acquiring k-space data from a plurality of slice locations with the MRI system following application of radio frequency (RF) energy to the plurality of slice locations, the RF energy applying a different phase to each of the plurality of slice locations; b) acquiring reference k-space data from one of the plurality of slice locations with the MRI system following application of RF energy to the one of the plurality of slice locations, the RF energy applying a phase to the one of the plurality of slice locations corresponding to the different phase applied to the corresponding slice location in step a); c) repeating step b) for each of the different phases of the RF energy applied in step a) to acquire reference k-space data for each of the plurality of slice locations; d) reconstructing aliased images from the k-space data acquired in step a); e) reconstructing reference images from the reference k-space data acquired in steps b) and c), wherein each reference image is a complex-valued image that depicts the subject; and f) producing an unaliased image for each of the plurality of slice locations using the aliased images reconstructed in step d) and the reference images reconstructed in step e).