PVDF hydrophone and hydrophone array with side-looking elements

Two single element hydrophones and an eight-element hydrophone array with side-looking polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) sensing elements are described. They were designed for measurements in which the ultrasonic beam insonifies the hydrophone from a direction perpendicular to the hydrophone axis. These hydrophones and the array have found various industrial and medical applications, especially for determining the ultrasound exposure of a patient in vivo. The construction and characterization of the hydrophones and the hydrophone array are reported and the directivities of the elements are compared with modeling results.