Ultrasonic therapeutic apparatus

An ultrasonic therapeutic apparatus comprising:

• an ultrasonic transducer for treatment;
• an ultrasonic probe;
• and
• a control unit configured to control the ultrasonic transducer and the ultrasonic probe, wherein
• the control unit is configured to execute:
• therapeutic ultrasound transmitting processing for causing the ultrasonic transducer to transmit a therapeutic ultrasonic wave;
• auxiliary ultrasound transmitting processing for causing the ultrasonic transducer to transmit an auxiliary ultrasonic wave;
• and
• sonicated-region image generating processing for causing the ultrasonic probe to transmit a plurality of ultrasonic waves at different time points and with different phases after the therapeutic ultrasonic wave is transmitted, and combining a plurality of received signals based on a plurality of reflected ultrasonic waves that have been reflected by body tissue and received by the ultrasonic probe, to thereby generate sonicated-region data based on nonlinear components based on the respective received signals, and
• wherein the auxiliary ultrasound transmitting processing includes processing for causing the ultrasonic transducer to transmit the auxiliary ultrasonic wave at a time point between two time points at which two ultrasonic waves, of the plurality of ultrasonic waves generated by the sonicated-region image generating processing, that are adjacent to each other on a time axis are transmitted, the two ultrasonic waves serve as a source of the received signals to be combined in the sonicated-region image generating.