Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, phase shift transmission/reception control method, and ultrasonic probe

An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, comprising:

• an ultrasonic probe having a laminated structure including acoustic matching layers, a transducer layer comprising a plurality of arrayed transducers, and a backing layer, wherein one of the acoustic matching layers has a non-segmented structure;
• a transmission/reception circuit configured to cause the ultrasonic probe to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves to and from an object via the transducers;
• an image generation circuit configured to generate image data based on an output from the transmission/reception circuit;
• processing circuitry configured to control the transmission/reception circuit to synchronize ultrasonic-wave generation by a specific transducer of the plurality of transducers with ultrasonic-wave reception by a transducer of the plurality of transducers that is different from the specific transducer, wherein the specific transducer is configured to generate transverse waves of a frequency lower than ultrasonic waves transmitted to the object to image the object, and the transverse waves generated by the specific transducer propagate through the one acoustic matching layer with the non-segmented structure, wherein the transducer is configured to detect the generated transverse waves propagated through the one acoustic matching layer and to generate a transverse wave reception signal as an output signal;
• and
• a phase shift detection circuit configured to detect a phase shift between the output signal and a reference signal, the output signal corresponding to synchronization between the ultrasonic-wave generation and the ultrasonic-wave reception.