A Miniature Hydrophone for High Acoustic Pressures

This paper describes a new type hydrophone to measure high acoustic pressures like the focal point of Extracorporeal Shock-wave Lithotripsy (ESWL) devices. In this region, because of very high pressures, ordinary hydrophones are quickly damaged. We propose a new type hydrophone with liquid electrodes and with a small acoustic window. After more than 1500 high acoustic pressure pulses incidence, significant decrease in sensitivity of the hydrophone have not been measured.