Single echo acquistion of MR images using RF coil arrays

Parallel imaging methods such as SMASH and SENSE reduce imaging time by using receiver coil sensitivity patterns to reduce requirements for gradient based image localization. This paper describes the first use of a coil array to completely eliminate gradient phase encoding. By using a 64 element planar array and a custom built 64 channel receiver system, 64×256 resolution images were constructed from a single line of k-space, demonstrating the ability to form complete images from a single echo acquisition. Together, the receiver and array are capable of generating complete images during successive echo acquisitions, potentially enabling extremely rapid frame rates.