Method of fast imaging of nmr parameters with variably-accelerated sensitivity encoding

A system for spatially imaging a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) parameter whose measurement requires the acquisition of a plurality of spatially localized NMR signals, said system comprising:

• an NMR system comprising a plurality of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) detectors, each MRI detector having a spatial sensitivity map;
• and
• a processor in communication with said NMR system,
• wherein said NMR system is configured to:
• apply a plurality of spatially localized MRI sequences, wherein each sequence is adjusted to be sensitive to said NMR parameter within a sample;
• adjust at least one of the applied plurality of spatially localized MRI sequences so as to substantially fully sample an image k-space of the sample, and adjust the remainder of said applied plurality of spatially localized MRI sequences to under-sample the image k-space of the sample;
• and
• acquire a plurality of image k-space NMR signal data sets, each responsive to the application of each of said plurality of spatially localized MRI sequences,
• wherein the processor is configured to:
• estimate a sensitivity map of each of the plurality of MRI detectors using a strategy to suppress unfolding artefacts, wherein said strategy is based on data acquired from the substantially fully-sampled spatially localized MRI sequence;
• and
• apply the estimated sensitivity maps to at least one of the image k-space NMR signal data sets to reconstruct a spatial image of NMR signals that are sensitive to said NMR parameter within a Support Region of the spatial image in which the sample resides.