JP2006087650A - Ultrasonic transmitter-receiver apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make the unnatural brightness change inconspicuous in a display screen by correcting the relative difference of strength between two or more ultrasonic beams in an ultrasonic transmitter-receiver apparatus to execute the multi-beam transmission. <P>SOLUTION: The ultrasonic transmitter-receiver apparatus is equipped with a probe for an ultrasonic wave 1 which forms an ultrasonic beam following one set of driving signals respectively supplied to one set of ultrasonic transducers, a waveform data output means 32 which adjusts amplitudes of two or more sets of driving signals for transmitting the two or more ultrasonic beams in three or more directions simultaneously from the probe for the ultrasonic wave following the transmitting directions of the individual ultrasonic beams and then outputs one set of waveform data indicating the waveforms produced by superimposing the two or more sets of the driving signals for the two or more ultrasonic beams, and a transmission circuit 21 which generates the one set of driving signals on the basis of the one set of the waveform data output from the waveform data output means and respectively supplies it to the one set of the ultrasonic transducers. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultrasonic transmission / reception apparatus used for observing an organ or the like in a living body by transmitting / receiving ultrasonic waves.

  In general, in an ultrasonic transmission / reception apparatus used as an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus or an industrial flaw detection apparatus, an ultrasonic probe (probe) including a plurality of ultrasonic transducers having an ultrasonic transmission / reception function is used. A plurality of drive signals are respectively supplied to a plurality of ultrasonic transducers, the object is scanned with an ultrasonic beam formed by combining the plurality of ultrasonic waves, and an ultrasonic echo reflected inside the object is detected. By receiving, a plurality of reception signals are output from the plurality of ultrasonic transducers, respectively. By performing various signal processing on these received signals, image information relating to the subject is obtained, and based on this, a two-dimensional or three-dimensional image relating to the subject is reproduced.

  In addition, a multi-beam transmission method has been studied in which when a subject is scanned to obtain image information, a plurality of ultrasonic beams are simultaneously transmitted in a plurality of directions. According to this multi-beam transmission method, it is possible to shorten the period (frame period) required to obtain one frame of image information and improve the frame rate.

  As a related technique, the following Patent Document 1 discloses that a plurality of ultrasonic transmission beams can be simultaneously generated for one transmission, and a plurality of ultrasonic waves whose reception frequency bands are changed corresponding to these frequency bands. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that generates a receive beam is disclosed. In this ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the transmission circuit is configured to be able to simultaneously generate a plurality of ultrasonic transmission beams having different frequency bands, focal regions, and directions for one transmission, and the reception circuit is a plurality of transmission circuits generated by the transmission circuit. The transmission circuit is configured to be able to simultaneously receive the reflected waves from the ultrasonic transmission beam and generate a plurality of ultrasonic reception beams having different frequency bands, and the transmission circuit includes an input means for arbitrarily selecting a measurement condition and the input means The storage means for storing the measurement conditions input in step (1) is connected, and the frequency band, focal range and direction of the ultrasonic transmission beam and ultrasonic reception beam are automatically determined according to the measurement conditions input by the control from the system control circuit. Be controlled.

Patent Document 2 below discloses an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can transmit an ultrasonic wave into a subject by driving a probe with an arbitrary transmission waveform. This ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus creates an arbitrary transmission waveform independently for each channel of the probe as an internal configuration of an ultrasonic transmission circuit that gives an ultrasonic transmission signal to the probe, and these transmission waveforms A plurality of arbitrary waveform generating circuits for driving the probe are provided. As a result, the probe can be driven with an arbitrary transmission waveform to transmit ultrasonic waves into the subject. FIG. 6 of Patent Document 2 shows the transmission timing in the case of two-way simultaneous transmission.
JP-A-8-38473 (first page, FIG. 1) JP-A-8-628 (first page, FIG. 6)

  In the ultrasonic transmission / reception apparatus that performs multi-beam transmission as described above, for example, a first set of drive signals for generating an ultrasonic beam in the first direction and an ultrasonic beam in the second direction. Is simply added to the second set of drive signals for generating the ultrasonic beam and the third set of drive signals for generating the ultrasonic beam in the third direction. It has recently been clarified by the inventor of the present application that the beam intensity changes discontinuously.

  FIG. 8 shows a change in the intensity of the ultrasonic beam depending on the scanning angle when one ultrasonic beam is transmitted, and FIG. 9 shows an ultrasonic wave depending on the scanning angle when three ultrasonic beams are transmitted simultaneously. It shows the intensity change of the beam. 8 and 9, the horizontal axis represents the scanning angle, and the vertical axis represents the relative beam intensity (linear).

  As shown in FIG. 8, when one ultrasonic beam is transmitted, the transmission direction of the ultrasonic beam is orthogonal to the transmission surface of the ultrasonic probe, that is, the scanning angle is 0 °. In some cases, the intensity of the ultrasonic beam becomes maximum, and a phenomenon called shading occurs in which the intensity of the ultrasonic beam gradually decreases as the scanning angle moves away from 0 °.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 9, when the first to third ultrasonic beams are simultaneously transmitted to scan the first to third scanning ranges, the second whose scanning angle is in the vicinity of 0 °. The intensity of the second ultrasonic beam that scans the scanning range increases discontinuously than the intensity of the first and third ultrasonic beams that scan the first and third scanning ranges, respectively. The phenomenon that occurs. This phenomenon is caused by the fact that part of the energy of the transmission wave for forming the first and third ultrasonic beams is sandwiched between the first ultrasonic beam and the third ultrasonic beam. This is considered to be caused by wrapping around the ultrasonic beam. This phenomenon unnaturally brightens the ultrasound image near the center of the screen. However, Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2 do not describe such a phenomenon, and therefore do not describe the solution.

  Therefore, in view of the above points, the present invention corrects a relative intensity difference between a plurality of ultrasonic beams in an ultrasonic transmission / reception apparatus that performs multi-beam transmission, and has an unnatural brightness in a display screen. The purpose is to make changes inconspicuous.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, an ultrasonic transmission / reception apparatus according to the present invention includes a set of ultrasonic transducers and forms an ultrasonic beam according to a set of drive signals respectively supplied to the set of ultrasonic transducers. An ultrasonic probe to be transmitted to the subject and a plurality of sets of drives for generating a plurality of ultrasonic beams to simultaneously transmit a plurality of ultrasonic beams in three or more directions from the ultrasonic probe. Waveform data output means for outputting a set of waveform data representing a waveform obtained by superimposing a plurality of sets of drive signals on a plurality of ultrasonic beams after adjusting the amplitude of the signal according to the transmission direction of each ultrasonic beam; One set of drive signals is generated based on one set of waveform data output from the waveform data output means, and the one set of drive signals is supplied to one set of ultrasonic transducers. Comprising a plurality of transmission circuits.

  According to the present invention, in an ultrasonic transmission / reception apparatus that performs multi-beam transmission, a plurality of sets of drive signals after adjusting the amplitudes of a plurality of sets of drive signals for generating a plurality of ultrasonic beams according to the transmission directions of the respective ultrasonic beams. By generating a set of drive signals based on a set of waveform data representing a waveform obtained by superimposing a plurality of ultrasonic beams on each other, thereby correcting a relative intensity difference between the plurality of ultrasonic beams. The unnatural brightness change can be made inconspicuous in the display screen. In the present application, the transducer for one element constituting the transducer array is referred to as “ultrasonic transducer”.

Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an ultrasonic transmission / reception apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The ultrasonic transmission / reception apparatus includes an ultrasonic probe (probe) 1 used in contact with a subject, and an ultrasonic transmission / reception apparatus main body 2 connected to the ultrasonic probe 1. Three or more ultrasonic beams are simultaneously transmitted from the ultrasonic probe 1 toward the subject in three or more directions, and ultrasonic echoes reflected from the subject are received. Generate.

The ultrasonic probe 1 incorporates a transducer array (also referred to as “array transducer”) including N ² ultrasonic transducers 11 arranged in a two-dimensional matrix. These ultrasonic transducers 11 are connected to the ultrasonic transmission / reception apparatus body 2 via signal lines. Note that a one-dimensional transducer array may be used instead of the two-dimensional transducer array.

  Each ultrasonic transducer 11 is, for example, a piezoelectric ceramic represented by PZT (Pb (lead) zirconate titanate) or a polymer piezoelectric element represented by PVDF (polyvinylidene difluoride). It is comprised by the vibrator | oscillator which formed the electrode at both ends of the material (piezoelectric body) which has piezoelectricity, such as. In addition, in recent years, a piezoelectric material containing PZNT (an oxide containing lead, zinc, niobium, titanium), which is expected to contribute to the improvement of sensitivity and bandwidth of an ultrasonic transducer, may be used.

  When a voltage is applied to the electrodes of such a vibrator by sending a pulsed or continuous wave electric signal, the piezoelectric body expands and contracts. By this expansion and contraction, pulsed or continuous wave ultrasonic waves are generated from the respective vibrators, and an ultrasonic beam is formed by synthesizing these ultrasonic waves. Each vibrator expands and contracts by receiving propagating ultrasonic waves and generates an electrical signal. These electrical signals are output as received signals.

The ultrasonic transmission / reception apparatus main body 2 includes a plurality of switching circuits 20, a plurality of transmission circuits 21, a plurality of reception circuits 22, a computer 30, a recording unit 40, and a display unit 50.
The plurality of switching circuits 20 respectively connect the plurality of ultrasonic transducers 11 built in the ultrasonic probe 1 to the plurality of transmission circuits 21 when transmitting ultrasonic waves, and when receiving ultrasonic waves, A plurality of ultrasonic transducers 11 built in the ultrasonic probe 1 are respectively connected to a plurality of receiving circuits 22.

  Each of the plurality of transmission circuits 21 includes a D / A converter and a class A power amplifier. The D / A converter generates a drive signal having a delay amount corresponding to the beam pattern of the ultrasonic beam based on the waveform data supplied from the computer 30. The power amplifier amplifies this drive signal and supplies it to the ultrasonic probe 1.

  Each of the plurality of receiving circuits 22 includes a preamplifier, a TGC (time gain compensation) amplifier, and an A / D (analog / digital) converter. The reception signal output from each ultrasonic transducer 11 is amplified by a preamplifier, and the TGC amplifier corrects attenuation due to the distance that the ultrasonic wave has reached in the subject.

  The received signal output from the TGC amplifier is converted into a digital signal by an A / D converter. The sampling frequency of the A / D converter needs to be at least about 10 times the frequency of the ultrasonic wave, and is preferably 16 times or more the frequency of the ultrasonic wave. The resolution of the A / D converter is preferably 10 bits or more.

  The computer 30 controls transmission / reception of ultrasonic waves based on software (control program) recorded in the recording unit 40. As the recording unit 40, a recording medium such as a hard disk, a flexible disk, MO, MT, RAM, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM can be used. The scan controller 31, the waveform data generator 32, the phase matching calculator 35, and the display image calculator 36 are realized as functional blocks by the computer 30 and software. The computer 30 has a transmission memory 33 and a reception memory 34.

  The scanning control unit 31 sequentially sets the transmission direction of the ultrasonic beam and the reception direction of the ultrasonic echo. For example, the scanning control unit 31 changes the directions of three or more ultrasonic beams transmitted from the ultrasonic probe 1 according to a predetermined scanning method while maintaining a constant offset amount from each other. The waveform data generation unit 32 is controlled.

  The waveform data generation unit 32 sequentially reads the waveform data stored in the transmission memory 33 under the control of the scanning control unit 31 and corrects the intensity difference of the plurality of ultrasonic beams in the multi-beam transmission. The amplitudes of the plurality of sets of drive signals represented by the data are adjusted according to the transmission directions of the respective ultrasonic beams. That is, the waveform data generation unit 32 multiplies a plurality of sets of drive signals for generating a plurality of ultrasonic beams with a correction coefficient, and then superimposes the plurality of sets of drive signals on the plurality of ultrasonic beams, thereby obtaining a waveform obtained thereby. Are generated and output to the plurality of transmission circuits 21, respectively. These transmission circuits 21 generate a set of drive signals based on a set of waveform data, and supply them to a set of ultrasonic transducers included in the ultrasonic probe 1.

  Alternatively, the waveform data generation unit 32 represents a waveform obtained by superimposing a plurality of sets of drive signals on a plurality of ultrasonic beams after adjusting the amplitudes of the plurality of sets of drive signals according to the transmission directions of the respective ultrasonic beams. A set of waveform data may be generated in advance for a plurality of beam patterns, recorded in the recording unit 40, and stored in the transmission memory 33 as necessary. When transmitting an ultrasonic beam, the waveform data generation unit 32 sequentially reads out a set of waveform data stored in the transmission memory 33 under the control of the scanning control unit 31 and sends it to the plurality of transmission circuits 21. Output each.

  On the other hand, the reception memory 34 stores digital reception signals output from the A / D converters of the plurality of reception circuits 22 in time series for each ultrasonic transducer. The phase matching calculation unit 35 selects a predetermined pattern from a plurality of reception delay patterns recorded in the recording unit 40 based on the reception direction set in the scanning control unit 31, and a plurality of patterns based on the pattern are selected. Receive focus processing is performed by adding a delay to the received signal. By this reception focus processing, sound ray data in which the focus of the ultrasonic echo is narrowed is formed for the three or more transmission beams. Note that the reception focus process may be performed before A / D conversion or before correction by the TGC amplifier.

  The display image calculation unit 36 generates image data based on the sound ray data formed by the phase matching calculation unit 35. The display unit 50 includes a display device such as a CRT or LCD, for example, and displays an ultrasonic image based on the image data generated by the display image calculation unit 36.

Next, the operation of the ultrasonic transmission / reception apparatus according to this embodiment will be described.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the relationship between the drive waveforms supplied to each channel of a plurality of ultrasonic transducers built in the ultrasonic probe and the ultrasonic beams generated thereby. FIG. 2A shows a state in which the first ultrasonic beam is transmitted toward the scanning angle θ = −15 ° by supplying the first set of drive signals having different phases to the respective ultrasonic transducers. Is shown. FIG. 2B shows a state in which the second ultrasonic beam is transmitted toward the scanning angle θ = 0 ° by applying the second set of drive signals having the same phase to the respective ultrasonic transducers. Is shown. FIG. 2C shows a state in which an ultrasonic beam is transmitted toward a scanning angle θ = + 15 ° by supplying a third set of drive signals having different phases to the respective ultrasonic transducers. .

  (D) of FIG. 2 synthesizes the drive signals shown in (a) to (c) of FIG. 2 to generate first to third scan angles θ = −15 °, 0 °, and + 15 °. It shows that the ultrasonic beam is transmitted simultaneously. Here, it is assumed that the first to third ultrasonic beams scan the first to third scanning ranges, respectively. For example, the first scanning range may be −30 ° to −10 °, the second scanning range may be −10 ° to + 10 °, and the third scanning range may be + 10 ° to + 30 °.

  As shown in FIG. 2D, three ultrasonic beams can be transmitted simultaneously by synthesizing three sets of drive signals. However, when drive signals having the same amplitude are synthesized for the three ultrasonic beams, as shown in FIG. 9, the intensity of the second ultrasonic beam sandwiched between the first and third ultrasonic beams becomes the first. In addition, the intensity of the third ultrasonic beam becomes stronger than the intensity of the third ultrasonic beam. Therefore, in this example, the amplitudes of the second set of drive signals shown in FIG. 2B are the amplitudes of the first set and the third set of drive signals shown in FIGS. 2A and 2C, respectively. The amplitudes of these drive signals are adjusted (corrected) so as to decrease further. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 3, the intensity | strength of the 1st-3rd ultrasonic beam which scans the 1st-3rd scanning range, respectively can be made to continue smoothly.

The correction coefficient used for correcting the amplitude of the drive signal can be obtained as follows. First, a drive waveform x _i (θ) for generating an ultrasonic beam directed to an angle θ in the i-th (i = 1, 2,..., M) channel corresponding to each ultrasonic transducer. The drive waveform vector X (θ) for generating an ultrasonic beam directed to the angle θ in all channels is expressed as follows.
X (θ) = [x ₁ (θ), x ₂ (θ),..., X _M (θ)]

Further, the angle of the ultrasonic beam in the n-th transmission is θ (n). For example, when the scanning range of −30 ° to + 29 ° is covered with a 1 ° pitch, θ (1) = − 30 °, θ (2) = − 29 °,..., Θ (60) = 29 °. In the case of multi-beam transmission, since three ultrasonic beams are transmitted at the same time in one transmission, the difference of n corresponding to the angle between two adjacent ultrasonic beams is set to N _OFF , When the number indicating each ultrasonic beam transmitted simultaneously to the scanning range is m (m = 1, 2, 3), the angle Φ _m (n) of each ultrasonic beam in the n-th transmission is It is expressed by a formula.
Φ _m (n) = θ (n + N _OFF × (m−1))
Therefore, if the correction coefficient for the ultrasonic beam in each scanning range is w _m , the combined drive waveform vector Y (n) of the three ultrasonic beams in the n-th transmission is expressed by the following equation.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a method for obtaining a correction coefficient used for correcting the amplitude of the drive signal for each scanning range.
In step S11, w _m = 1 is set for _m = 1, 2, 3. In step S12, a beam profile in each transmission direction is obtained by measurement or calculation. As a result, a beam profile as shown in FIG. 5 is obtained. In FIG. 5, the first to third scanning ranges are indicated by ultrasonic beam angles Φ ₁ (n) to Φ ₃ (n).

In step S13, the average value a of the peak intensity of the ultrasonic beam (center beam) in the second scanning range of the beam profile shown in FIG. 5 is obtained. In Step S14, the average and the average value b ₁ of the peak intensity of the ultrasonic beam in a first scanning range of the beam profile shown in FIG. 5, the average value b ₃ of the peak intensity of the ultrasonic beam in the third scanning range By doing so, the average value b of the peak intensity of the ultrasonic beam (ambient beam) in the first and third scanning ranges is obtained.

In step S15, it is determined whether or not | a / b-1 | is smaller than a predetermined value ε (for example, 0.05). If | a / b-1 | is smaller than ε, the process ends. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S16. In step S16, b / a is applied to _{w 2.} Note that w ₁ and w ₃ remain “1”. Thereafter, steps S12 to S15 are repeated, and the process ends when | a / b-1 | becomes smaller than ε.

  In the above example, the amplitude of the second set of drive signals is decreased from the amplitude of the first set or the third set of drive signals. Conversely, the amplitude of the first set or the third set of drive signals is reduced. By increasing the amplitude of the second set of drive signals, the intensities of the first to third ultrasonic beams that respectively scan the first to third scanning ranges may be made smoothly continuous.

  Alternatively, based on the beam profile in each transmission direction, the amplitudes of the first to third sets of drive signals are corrected for each channel of the ultrasonic transducer in accordance with the transmission direction of each ultrasonic beam, as shown in FIG. As shown, the intensities of the first to third ultrasonic beams that respectively scan the first to third scanning ranges may be made substantially equal.

In that case, a correction coefficient used for correcting the amplitude of the drive signal can be obtained as follows. If the correction coefficient for each ultrasonic beam is w _m (n), the combined drive waveform vector Y (n) of the three ultrasonic beams in the n-th transmission is expressed by the following equation.

7 and 8 are flowcharts showing a method for obtaining a correction coefficient used for correcting the amplitude of the drive signal for each channel. In the following description, the intensity of the ultrasonic beam in the angle θ direction is I (θ).
In step S21 of FIG. 7, w _m (n) = 1 is set for m = 1, 2, 3. In step S22, a beam profile in each transmission direction is obtained by measurement or calculation. As a result, a beam profile as shown in FIG. 5 is obtained. In FIG. 5, the first to third scanning ranges are indicated by ultrasonic beam angles Φ ₁ (n) to Φ ₃ (n).

In step S23, the average value a of the peak intensity of the ultrasonic beam (center beam) in the second scanning range of the beam profile shown in FIG. 5 is obtained. In step S24, for n = 1, 2,..., N _OFF , the peak intensity of the ultrasonic beam in the first and third scanning ranges is corrected using the following equation.

In step S25 of FIG. 8, the beam profile in each transmission direction is obtained again by measurement or calculation. In step S26, the average value a of the peak intensity of the ultrasonic beam (center beam) in the second scanning range of the beam profile shown in FIG. 5 is obtained. In step S27, the average and the average value b ₁ of the peak intensity of the ultrasonic beam in a first scanning range of the beam profile shown in FIG. 5, the average value b ₃ of the peak intensity of the ultrasonic beam in the third scanning range By doing so, the average value b of the peak intensity of the ultrasonic beam (ambient beam) in the first and third scanning ranges is obtained.

In step S28, it is determined whether or not | a / b-1 | is smaller than a predetermined value ε (for example, 0.05). If | a / b-1 | is smaller than ε, the process ends. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S29. In step S29, for n = 1, 2,..., N _OFF , w ₂ (n) is multiplied by b / I (Φ ₂ (n)). Thereafter, steps S25 to S28 are repeated, and the process ends when | a / b-1 | becomes smaller than ε.
The case where three ultrasonic beams are transmitted simultaneously has been described above, but the present invention can also be applied to the case where four or more ultrasonic beams are transmitted simultaneously.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used in an ultrasonic transmission / reception apparatus that is used for transmitting / receiving ultrasonic waves and observing an organ or the like in a living body.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the ultrasonic transmitter / receiver which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the drive waveform supplied to each channel of the some ultrasonic transducer | transducer in one Embodiment of this invention, and the ultrasonic beam generated by it. It is a figure which shows the 1st example of the intensity | strength of the 1st-3rd ultrasonic beam in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the method of calculating | requiring the correction coefficient used in order to correct | amend the amplitude of a drive signal for every scanning range in a 1st example. It is a figure which shows the average value of the peak intensity in the beam profile of a 1st example. It is a figure which shows the 2nd example of the intensity | strength of the 1st-3rd ultrasonic beam in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the method of calculating | requiring the correction coefficient used in order to correct | amend the amplitude of a drive signal for every channel in a 2nd example. It is a figure which shows the intensity | strength change of the ultrasonic beam by the scanning angle in the case of transmitting one ultrasonic beam. It is a figure which shows the intensity | strength change of the ultrasonic beam by a scanning angle in the case of transmitting three ultrasonic beams simultaneously.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ultrasonic probe 2 Ultrasonic transmitter-receiver main body 11 Ultrasonic transducer 20 Switching circuit 21 Transmission circuit 22 Reception circuit 30 Computer 31 Scan control part 32 Waveform data generation part 33 Transmission memory 34 Reception memory 35 Phase matching calculation part 36 Display Image calculation unit 40 Recording unit 50 Display unit

Claims (4)

An ultrasonic probe that includes a set of ultrasonic transducers, forms an ultrasonic beam according to a set of drive signals respectively supplied to the set of ultrasonic transducers, and transmits the ultrasonic beam to a subject;
In order to simultaneously transmit a plurality of ultrasonic beams in three or more directions from the ultrasonic probe, the amplitudes of a plurality of sets of drive signals for generating a plurality of ultrasonic beams are set to the transmission directions of the respective ultrasonic beams. Waveform data output means for outputting a set of waveform data representing a waveform obtained by superimposing the plurality of sets of drive signals on a plurality of ultrasonic beams after adjustment according to
A plurality of transmission circuits that generate a set of drive signals based on the set of waveform data output from the waveform data output means, and supply the set of drive signals to the set of ultrasonic transducers, respectively;
An ultrasonic transmission device comprising:   The waveform data output means sets the amplitude of the drive signal for forming the third ultrasonic beam transmitted between the first ultrasonic beam and the second ultrasonic beam to the first or second. A set of waveform data representing a waveform obtained by superimposing the plurality of sets of drive signals on a plurality of ultrasonic beams after being reduced from an amplitude of a drive signal for forming an ultrasonic beam is output. The ultrasonic transmission / reception apparatus according to 1.   The waveform data output means is either first or second than the amplitude of the drive signal for forming a third ultrasonic beam transmitted between the first ultrasonic beam and the second ultrasonic beam. A set of waveform data representing a waveform obtained by superimposing the plurality of sets of drive signals on a plurality of ultrasonic beams after increasing the amplitude of a drive signal for forming a plurality of ultrasonic beams is output. The ultrasonic transmission / reception apparatus according to 1.   The waveform data output means corrects the amplitudes of a plurality of sets of drive signals for generating a plurality of ultrasonic beams for each ultrasonic transducer in accordance with the transmission direction of each ultrasonic beam, and then converts the plurality of sets of drive signals to a plurality of sets. The ultrasonic transmission / reception apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a set of waveform data representing a waveform obtained by superimposing the sound wave beams is output.

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