  In Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) data samples are collected in the spatial
frequency domain (k-space), typically by time-consuming line-by-line scanning
on a Cartesian grid. Scans can be accelerated by simultaneous acquisition of
data using multiple receivers (parallel imaging), and by using more efficient
non-Cartesian sampling schemes. As shown here, reconstruction from samples at
arbitrary locations can be understood as approximation of vector-valued
functions from the acquired samples and formulated using a Reproducing Kernel
Hilbert Space (RKHS) with a matrix-valued kernel defined by the spatial
sensitivities of the receive coils. This establishes a formal connection
between approximation theory and parallel imaging. Theoretical tools from
approximation theory can then be used to understand reconstruction in k-space
and to extend the analysis of the effects of samples selection beyond the
traditional g-factor noise analysis to both noise amplification and
approximation errors. This is demonstrated with numerical examples.
