A method for detecting movement of a subject inside a magnetic resonance imaging device includes: providing at least one input signal; using the at least one input signal to generate a higher pilot tone signal having a transmission frequency at least twice as high as the Larmor frequency of the magnetic resonance imaging device; transmitting the higher pilot tone signal towards the subject using a transmitting antenna; receiving the transmitted higher pilot tone signal using a receiving antenna; using the at least one input signal to convert the frequency of the transmitted higher pilot tone signal to an intermediate frequency equal to or lower than the frequency of the input signal; and forwarding the transmitted pilot tone signal to an analysis system to detect changes in the transmitted pilot tone signal caused by movement of the subject.