Magnetic resonance imaging system using sub-volumes and magnetic resonance imaging method using sub-volumes

A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method comprising:

• applying radio-frequency (RF) pulses comprising a plurality of frequency components and a selection gradient to a subject to simultaneously excite a plurality of sub-volumes in each of a plurality of groups, wherein a plurality of sub-volumes making up a volume of the subject are divided into the plurality of groups so that any neighboring sub-volumes belong to different groups;
• performing three-dimensional (3D) encoding on each of the excited sub-volumes using a plurality of encoding methods;
• acquiring magnetic resonance signals from the encoded sub-volumes;
• and
• reconstructing the acquired magnetic resonance signals into image data corresponding to each of the encoded sub-volumes.

A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system comprising:

• an MRI scanner configured to:
• apply radio-frequency (RF) pulses comprising a plurality of frequency components and a selection gradient to a subject to simultaneously excite a plurality of sub-volumes in each of a plurality of groups, wherein a plurality of sub-volumes making up a volume of the subject are divided into the plurality of groups so that any neighboring sub-volumes belong to different groups;
• perform three-dimensional (3D) encoding on each of the excited sub-volumes using a plurality of encoding methods;
• 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 encoded sub-volumes
• wherein the plurality of groups comprise a first group through an N-th group, the plurality of sub-volumes making up the volume of the subject are sequentially and cyclically distributed to the first group through the N-th group, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.