A system, comprising: a magnetically permeable structure including a number of poles; a first sensor comprising: a middle driving pole of said structure comprising a driving coil wrapped around the middle driving pole configured to receive a driving current and to emit a magnetic flux portion through a magnetostrictive shaft; four outer sensing poles of said structure each comprising a sensing coil wrapped around the sensing pole configured to receive the magnetic flux portion that exits the magnetostrictive shaft and to generate a first signal based at least in part on a change in the received magnetic flux portion relative to the emitted magnetic flux portion, wherein the first signal is indicative of a torque on the magnetostrictive shaft; characterized by a second sensor including a proximity coil wrapped around the middle driving pole, the proximity coil being positioned at an end of the middle driving pole, wherein the second sensor is configured to measure a magnetic flux induced in the middle driving pole by the emitted magnetic flux portion, and to generate a second signal representative of a distance between the middle driving pole and the magnetostrictive shaft; and a circuit configured to adjust the first signals based on the second signal to compensate for one or more effects of the distance between the middle driving pole and the magnetostrictive shaft. a magnetically permeable structure including a number of poles; a first sensor comprising: a middle driving pole of said structure comprising a driving coil wrapped around the middle driving pole configured to receive a driving current and to emit a magnetic flux portion through a magnetostrictive shaft; four outer sensing poles of said structure each comprising a sensing coil wrapped around the sensing pole configured to receive the magnetic flux portion that exits the magnetostrictive shaft and to generate a first signal based at least in part on a change in the received magnetic flux portion relative to the emitted magnetic flux portion, wherein the first signal is indicative of a torque on the magnetostrictive shaft; a middle driving pole of said structure comprising a driving coil wrapped around the middle driving pole configured to receive a driving current and to emit a magnetic flux portion through a magnetostrictive shaft; four outer sensing poles of said structure each comprising a sensing coil wrapped around the sensing pole configured to receive the magnetic flux portion that exits the magnetostrictive shaft and to generate a first signal based at least in part on a change in the received magnetic flux portion relative to the emitted magnetic flux portion, wherein the first signal is indicative of a torque on the magnetostrictive shaft; characterized by a second sensor including a proximity coil wrapped around the middle driving pole, the proximity coil being positioned at an end of the middle driving pole, wherein the second sensor is configured to measure a magnetic flux induced in the middle driving pole by the emitted magnetic flux portion, and to generate a second signal representative of a distance between the middle driving pole and the magnetostrictive shaft; and a circuit configured to adjust the first signals based on the second signal to compensate for one or more effects of the distance between the middle driving pole and the magnetostrictive shaft.