Magnetic resonance imaging system and magnetic resonance imaging method

A medical resonance imaging (MRI) method comprising:

• applying a pulse sequence to a subject, the pulse sequence comprising a slice direction encoding gradient, to encode some slices of sequential slices included in each sub-volume of sub-volumes that constitute a volume of the subject, wherein the sub-volumes are assigned to groups so that adjacent sub-volumes belong to different groups;
• reconstructing image data corresponding to each of the slices in each of the sub-volumes of one of the groups;
• applying the pulse sequence and performing the reconstructing of the image data for all of the groups;
• and
• in response to determining that the applying of the pulse sequence and the reconstructing of the image data have been performed for all of the groups, combining image data corresponding to each of the slices in each of the sub-volumes of each of the groups to create a three-dimensional (3D) volume image of the subject.

A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system comprising:

• an MRI scanner configured to:
• divide a volume of a subject into sub-volumes so that each of the sub-volumes comprises sequential slices, wherein the sub-volumes are assigned to groups so that adjacent sub-volumes belong to different groups,
• apply radio-frequency (RF) pulses comprising frequency components and a selection gradient to the subject to excite the sub-volumes in each of the groups, wherein the sub-volumes in each group are excited simultaneously,
• perform three-dimensional (3D) encoding on each of the excited sub-volumes by selecting some slices for encoding in the slice direction from the sequential slices in each of the excited sub-volumes, and performing slice direction encoding on the slices selected for encoding, and
• acquire magnetic resonance signals from the encoded sub-volumes;
• and
• a data processor configured to reconstruct the acquired magnetic resonance signals into image data corresponding to each of the sequential slices in each of the encoded sub-volumes.