Patent ID: 7301335

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: an excitation unit that generates an alternating magnetic excitation signal; and one or more magnetic sensors that are positioned adjacent the excitation unit and that are configured to detect a signal due to the excitation magnetic signal interacting with an object being inspected, wherein the apparatus is configured to scan a surface of the object having a structure in order to detect anomalous signal changes around the structure in a manner that reduces signal changes due to a boundary between the structure and the surface; a position actuator; a rotation actuator; a controller operatively coupled to the position actuator and the rotation actuator, and operable to move and angle the excitation unit and the one or more sensors in order to detect a position of the structure and to control the excitation unit and the one or more sensors to detect an anomaly next to the structure; an information processor configured to receive and to automatically analyze signals from the one or more sensors and to control the controller to move the portion of the apparatus to the position over the structure.