Patent ID: 8303506

Claim:
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: an ultrasonic probe including plural ultrasonic transducers configured to transmit ultrasonic waves to an object to be inspected according to drive signals and receiving ultrasonic echoes propagating from the object to output reception signals; a drive signal generating unit configured to supply the drive signals to said plural ultrasonic transducers, respectively; a reception signal processing unit configured to process the reception signals outputted from said plural ultrasonic transducers, respectively; a control unit configured to set one of a first imaging mode and a second imaging mode; a transmission control unit configured to control said drive signal generating unit to scan the object while shifting a center position of a group of ultrasonic transducers, which simultaneously transmit ultrasonic waves, by a distance not larger than an interval of said plural ultrasonic transducers in said first imaging mode, and to control said drive signal generating unit to scan the object while shifting a center position of a group of ultrasonic transducers, which simultaneously transmit ultrasonic waves, by a distance not less than twice the interval of said plural ultrasonic transducers in said second imaging mode; and an image generating unit configured (i) in said first imaging mode, to perform reception focusing processing on the reception signals outputted from said plural ultrasonic transducers and processed by said reception signal processing unit to obtain a number of sound ray signals in each frame period, and thereby generating an image signal at a first frame rate, and (ii) in said second imaging mode, to correct delay times of the reception signals outputted from said plural ultrasonic transducers and processed by said reception signal processing unit such that the reception signals become temporally continuous in each frame period, performing reception focusing processing on the reception signals to obtain the same number of sound ray signals in each frame period as that in said first imaging mode, and thereby generating an image signal at a second frame rate higher than said first frame rate.