Phased-array coil arrangement and method and system for their use

A magnetic resonance imaging system (10) comprises a phased array coil assembly (26) and a signal processing circuit (34). The phased array coil assembly includes a plurality of coils (52) that cover a predetermined area (50) at each of the same dimension. Each of the plurality of coils has a different number of conductive loops on the predetermined region, and share the predetermined range, the coils in at least three adjacent zones (56) which are arranged linearly along the predetermined range. The signal processing circuit is coupled to the phased array coil assembly such that it receives a number of magnetic resonance signals detected by the plurality of coils. This signal processing circuit is designed so that the to-do their origin in at least one of adjacent areas, may locate a plurality of magnetic resonance signals.