Most image reconstruction algorithms for biomedical photoacoustic tomography make the assumption that the optically-generated ultrasonic waves are recorded by pressure detectors with an omni-directional response. In other words, the detectors are assumed to sample the pressure field exactly at a point. In practice this is rarely the case as real detectors have a finite size and often respond not purely to pressure changes but to some combination of acoustic pressure and pressure gradient (or

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... er derivatives). This can make them less sensitive to pressure waves at some angles. The effect of this sensor directionality on photoacoustic tomography was considered here for the case of time-reversal image reconstruction. The ultrasound simulation toolbox k-Wave was used to perform the study.