Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and magnetic resonance imaging method

A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus comprising:

• a gradient coil configured to apply a gradient magnetic field in accordance with a pulse sequence;
• an RF coil configured to transmit RF pulses causing nuclear magnetic resonance and receive nuclear magnetic resonance signals in accordance with the pulse sequence;
• an RF receiver configured to acquire the nuclear magnetic resonance signals received by the RF coil in accordance with the pulse sequence;
• and
• processing circuitry configured to control the gradient coil, the RF coil, and the RF receiver to perform a first pulse sequence, a second pulse sequence, and a main-scan pulse sequence,
• wherein the processing circuitry is configured to
• (a) set the first pulse sequence in which application of a gradient magnetic field in a readout direction is included, in such a manner that the nuclear magnetic resonance signals are acquired from a first acquisition region including at least a part of an imaging region of a main scan,
• (b) set the second pulse sequence in which application of the gradient magnetic field in the readout direction is included, in such a manner that the nuclear magnetic resonance signals are acquired from a second acquisition region including at least a part of the imaging region and being shifted from the first acquisition region,
• (c) set the main-scan pulse sequence in which application of the gradient magnetic field in the readout direction and a gradient magnetic field in a phase encode direction is included, in such a manner that the nuclear magnetic resonance signals from the imaging region are acquired,
• (d) generate first k-space data including a plurality of matrix elements, by sampling the nuclear magnetic resonance signals acquired by the first pulse sequence,
• (e) generate second k-space data including a plurality of matrix elements, by sampling the nuclear magnetic resonance signals acquired by the second pulse sequence,
• (f) calculate phase difference data indicative of phase difference in the readout direction between the first k-space data and the second k-space data,
• (g) generate main scan k-space data based on the nuclear magnetic resonance signals acquired by the main-scan pulse sequence and the phase difference data, and
• (h) reconstruct image data of the imaging region based on the main scan k-space data.