Efficient multi-shot EPI with self-navigated segmentation

A method for reconstructing an image of a subject from k-space data acquired with a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, the steps of the method comprising:

• (a) accessing k-space data acquired from a subject using an MRI system, wherein the k-space data are segmented k-space data acquired comprising a plurality of k-space segments;
• (b) estimating a reference phase map for each k-space segment from non-diffusion-weighted data in the k-space data for each kz-plane;
• (c) calculating k-space segment-dependent phase values from the k-space data;
• (d) calculating phase difference values for each k-space segment using the reference phase map for that k-space segment and corresponding k-space segment-dependent phase values;
• (e) generating phase corrected k-space data by applying the phase difference values to the k-space data in order to reduce phase corruptions caused by physiological changes in the subject that occurred when the k-space data were acquired;
• and
• (f) reconstructing an image from the phase corrected k-space data.