Image Space and k-Space

The way that the MR signals are generated and encoded by the use of magnetic field gradients gives rise to a particular relationship between the data points in the signal and those in the image. A single data point in an MR signal contributes a particular attribute to the whole image. Conversely, a single pixel in the image may have contributions from all of the MR signals collected. Just as each pixel occupies a unique location in image space, each point of an MR signal echo belongs to a particular location in a related space known as k-space (Fig.7.1).