Scan time reduction with an adaptive field of view

In magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), there is always a drive toward reducing the acquisition time. In volume imaging, time is often spent in acquiring data where there exists no signal because the imaging volume is larger than the object. In this paper, a method is presented for scan time reduction using an adaptive field of view (FOV). Multislice images are acquired with the FOV in the phase encoding direction of each slice determined by measurements made on the initial localization survey scan. Depending on the region of interest, an optimized FOV is also determined so that scan time is reduced in comparison to a normal scan while improving image resolution. The method is simple to implement and requires no additional hardware. Typical reductions in scan time are on the order 9–14%.