The data sheet expalins how to do it. The term "IFT" has other meanings, it is really just a step-up transformer.
What we had to find out was what it was used for and how it was used. Some ultrasonic systems send a continuous signal and use an independant microphone to pick it up, typically these are used in motion sensing where a change in the level or phase of the signal tells you something is moving within the sound path.
Your design uses one ultrasonic sensor to do the sending and receiving and it times how long it takes for a burst of sound to return back to the transducer (the echo). That means you have to alternate between sending a tone and listening for it's return, that's why bursts are used, on means send, off means listen. If you follow the schematic on the data sheet it should work, your MCU has to provide a few cycles of 40KHz, repeated at a slow rate, maybe once per second. The MCU signal turns the transistor on and off which in turn makes a high voltage appear across the secondary of the transformer. With the optimal transformer, having approximately 8mH secondary inductance, it will resonate with the 2,000pF capacitance of the transducer and produce the signal you need. The MCU has to produce enough pulses at 40KHz to 'pump' the resonant circuit to full power, I'm not sure how many pulses would be needed as it would depend on the 'Q' of the tuned circuit and how much load the transducer places on it but I would guess probably 50 cycles or so would be adequate. You really need to use an oscilloscope to look at the waveform and adjust the number of pulses so it was no more than necessary to achieve full output.
When you have found the optimal transmission signal to use, all you do is send one burst, then time how long it takes for the amplifier to see the echo. The "time of flight" can be converted to distance fairly accurately. You can impove the accuracy if needed by taking into account the humidity an temperature along the path you are measuring as both of these have an influence on the speed the sound travels in air.
Brian.