Array coil and magnetic resonance imaging apparatus

A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus comprising:

• an MRI RF array coil having a controllably variable field of view (FOV) size and/or location, said coil including (i) coil groups in each of which element coils for receiving the magnetic resonance signals are arranged while being shifted from each other, in each of which the coil groups define a FOV region, and (2) an effective coil group-providing unit configured to selectively make coil groups effective for changing the location and/or size of the FOV region;
• a coil group selecting unit configured to select one coil group of the coil groups on the basis of positional relationships between an imaging region and the coil groups;
• a control unit configured to control the effective coil group-providing unit such that the coil group selected by the coil group selecting unit is made effective;
• and
• a reconstruction unit configured to reconstruct an image of a subject on the basis of signals which at least one element coil outputs in response to magnetic resonance signals radiating from the subject, said at least one element coil being included among the element coils of the coil groups made effective by the effective coil group-providing unit.