Magnetic resonance method and apparatus for obtaining a set of measured data relating to a breathing object of interest

A magnetic resonance apparatus comprising:

• a magnetic resonance data acquisition unit;
• a processor configured to subdivide a respiratory position of a respirating subject into a plurality of predetermined clusters, each cluster encompassing a predetermined respiratory range of said respiratory position;
• said processor being configured to operate said magnetic resonance data acquisition unit to acquire magnetic resonance data from the respirating subject in a plurality of shots, with the magnetic resonance data of each shot filling a predetermined number of lines in k-space that is less than an entirety of all lines in k-space, and each shot exhibiting a three-dimensional k-space trajectory in k-space, with respectively different shots filling respectively different lines in k-space such that each shot fills a predetermined k-space region;
• said processor being configured to assign a respective shot index to each of said shots that designates a sensitivity of the respective shot to movement by the subject, and assigning said shot indices to the respective shots with adjacent shot indices being assigned to respective shots, among said plurality of shots, that exhibit an incrementally different sensitivity to said movement;
• said processor being configured to operate said magnetic resonance data acquisition unit to acquire the respective shots by (A) acquiring navigator data that indicate said respiratory position of the subject, (B) in said processor, selecting a specific cluster in the respective respiratory range in which said navigator data indicate the respiratory position and the respiratory phase occur, (C) from said processor, selecting a shot to be acquired that has a shot index assigned thereto that borders a shot index of a last-acquired shot for said specific cluster, and (D) acquiring said shot to be acquired and assigning said shot to the specific cluster;
• said processor being configured to repeat (A), (B), (C) and (D) until at least two bordering clusters, that encompass adjacent respiratory regions of the subject, collectively are assigned to all of said shots in said measurement data set;
• and
• said processor being configured to reconstruct an MR image from magnetic resonance data of said shots assigned to said two bordering clusters.

A non-transitory, computer-readable data storage medium encoded with programming instructions, said storage medium being loaded into a computerized control and processing system of a magnetic resonance apparatus, said magnetic resonance apparatus also comprising a magnetic resonance data acquisition unit, and said programming instructions causing said computerized control and processing system to:

• subdivide a respiratory position of a respirating subject into a plurality of predetermined clusters, each cluster encompassing a predetermined respiratory range of said respiratory position;
• operate the magnetic resonance data acquisition unit to acquire magnetic resonance data from the respirating subject in a plurality of shots, with the magnetic resonance data of each shot filling a predetermined number of lines in k-space that is less than an entirety of all lines in k-space, and each shot exhibiting a three-dimensional k-space trajectory in k-space, with respectively different shots filling respectively different lines in k-space such that each shot fills a predetermined k-space region;
• assign a respective shot index to each of said shots that designates a sensitivity of the respective shot to movement by the subject, and assigning said shot indices to the respective shots with adjacent shot indices being assigned to respective shots, among said plurality of shots, that exhibit an incrementally different sensitivity to said movement;
• operate said magnetic resonance data acquisition unit to acquire the respective shots by (A) acquiring navigator data that indicate said respiratory position of the subject, (B) in said processor, selecting a specific cluster in the respective respiratory range in which said navigator data indicate the respiratory position and the respiratory phase occur, (C) from said processor, selecting a shot to be acquired that has a shot index assigned thereto that borders a shot index of a last-acquired shot for said specific duster, and (D) acquiring said shot to be acquired and assigning said shot to the specific cluster;
• repeat (A), (B), (C) and (D) until at least two bordering dusters, that encompass adjacent respiratory regions of the subject, collectively are assigned to all of said shots in said measurement data set;
• and
• reconstruct an MR image from magnetic resonance data of said shots assigned to said two bordering clusters.