An electrode patch (40, 40′) enables securing five electrodes (E′, A′, S′, I′, N′) or six electrodes (V1′, V6′, LA′, RA′, LL′, RL′) in a predefined pattern. The electrode patch is configured for disposal as a unit on a subject (SUBJ) in a magnetic resonance (MR) scanner (8), and has a maximum electrodes separation (dmax) of at least 20 centimeters and not more than 50 centimeters. The predefined pattern enables 12-lead electrocardiographic signals to be synthesized from signals acquired by the five or six electrodes in the predefined pattern. A method that can use the electrode patch comprises: acquiring magnetic resonance data with a subject disposed in a MR scanner securing a plurality of electrodes to the subject in the magnetic resonance scanner, the plurality of electrodes comprising fewer than ten electrodes and synthesizing twelve leads corresponding to a conventional 12-lead electrocardiograph from electrocardiographic signals acquired by the plurality of electrodes with the subject disposed in the MR scanner.
