NMR SCREENING METHOD

A medical screening method for examining a patient utilizing NMR techniques is disclosed. The method uses an NMR imaging apparatus which has a scanning volume region of a limited size and which is operative to produce, during the course of a single scanning operation, a collection of spatially encoded NMR image data for a set of volume elements defined by the part of the patient positioned in the scanning volume region. A patient is positioned within the NMR apparatus, the NMR apparatus operated to conduct a scanning operation, and the patient then moved so that an additional volume portion of the patient is positioned within the scanning volume region. The NMR apparatus is then operated to conduct a further scanning operation with respect to the additional volume portion. This procedure of moving the patient and conducting additional scanning operations is continued until substantially the entire body of the patient is scanned and NMR image data collected therefor. An array of selected region elements are selected from the various sets of volume elements so as to define a selected region of the patient which is contained within parts of the different scanned volume portions. A composite image of the patient in the selected region is then produced from the stored collections of NMR image data by utilizing the spatially encoded NMR image data which corresponds to the selected region elements. Such method thus permits a convenient technique for conducting whole body scans of patients in a relatively short period of time.