The Impact of Piezoelectric PVDF on Medical Ultrasound Exposure Measurements, Standards, and Regulations

Published

January 1, 2000

Author(s)

G L. Harris, R C. Peterson, A S. DeReggi

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of PVDF hydrophones for characterizing medical ultrasound fields. The polymer hydrophone approaches that have resulted from this work are discussed, with emphasis given to the spot-poled membrane design that has become the de facto reference device for these measurements. The various national and international standards and regulations that have followed from the successful use of PVDF hydrophones also are summarized. The works discussed encompass polymer-based hydrophones designed primarily for diagnostic and lithotripsy exposure measurements, both in water and in vivo. The advent of these hydrophones has made possible accurate and reliable measurements of exposure levels encountered in medical ultrasound, and thus has allowed questions of ultrasound bioeffects and device safety to be addressed in a consistent and scientifically sound manner.

Citation

IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control

Volume

47(6)

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

hydrophone, membrane hydrophone, polyvinylidene-fluoride, PVDF, spot-poled membrane hydrophone

Citation

Harris, G. , Peterson, R. and DeReggi, A. (2000), The Impact of Piezoelectric PVDF on Medical Ultrasound Exposure Measurements, Standards, and Regulations, IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=851623 (Accessed October 14, 2025)