Abstract: According to one embodiment of the invention, an apparatus for magnetic resonance imaging is provided. The apparatus includes a detection surface defined by a plurality of sensors. Each of the sensors is operable to receive image information concerning a particular portion of a target surface by substantially confining to the each of the sensors magnetic flux associated with the particular portion of the target surface. The detection surface is operable to acquire all image information for generating a magnetic resonance image resembling the target surface by receiving, at the each of the sensors, a single echo signal from the particular portion of the target surface that correspondingly underlies the each of the sensors. The magnetic resonance image has a resolution of at least sixty-four pixels by a number of pixels equal to M. M is an integer.