Magnetic Resonance Imaging Apparatus

A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus comprising a static magnetic field generation means for generating a static magnetic field in a vertical direction, an imaging means for applying an RF magnetic field and a gradient magnetic field to a test object placed in the static magnetic field, and a receiving means for receiving a nuclear magnetic resonance signal generated from the test object, the receiving means comprising a receiver coil unit made up of multiple types of sub-coils, wherein,

• the receiver coil unit comprises a bed coil unit whose longitudinal direction agrees with a body axis direction of the test object, and multiple upper coil units detachably mounted on the bed coil unit along the longitudinal direction of the bed coil unit,
• the bed coil unit comprises a carrying surface for placing the test object in the center of lateral direction which is orthogonal to the longitudinal direction, multiple joint support parts arranged along the longitudinal direction on the both sides of the lateral direction of the carrying surface, and multiple subsets of sub-coils connected with the joint support parts on both sides and arranged in the lateral direction,
• the upper coil unit includes a pair of joining sections arranged on both sides of the lateral direction, an outer support whose ends are supported by the pair of the joining sections, and a pair of inner supports each having one end mounted on the joining section and the other end being free end,
• the joining section has a stick-like appearance, and is provided with, along the longitudinal direction, multiple joint parts to be connected with the joint support parts,
• the inner support and the outer support have a flexible thin plate-like appearance, a subset of sub-coils being arranged therein, and in each of the outer support and the inner support, multiple openings are formed in accordance with the arrangement of the sub-coils, and
• the upper coil unit is allowed to be coupled with the bed coil unit via a linkage of the joint support parts and the joint parts, and the linkage forms multiple sub-coils which cover an external side of the test object placed on the carrying surface.