Ultrasonic wave phase matching apparatus

Claim 1

An ultrasonic wave phase matching apparatus for visualizing a sectional plane of an object to be examined by selecting a plurality of excited ultrasonic transducers and controlling each amplitude and phase of transmitted and received ultrasonic waves to converge ultrasonic beams within the object and reconfigure reflected waves coming from a given area including a focal point comprising main delay means for providing predetermined delay times corresponding to distance differences between the focal point and the plurality of excited ultrasonic transducers at least partially on the basis of delay times of received ultrasonic wave signals, pre-delay means for fine-controlling the delay times provided by said main delay means according to differences between transmitted ultrasonic wave delay times and received ultrasonic wave delay times, and transmit-receive switching control circuit means for connecting said main delay means to a receive circuit side during a receive period and for connecting a series combination of said main delay means and said pre-delay means to a transmit circuit side during a transmit period.