Patent ID: 8523429

Claim:
A method of determining the temperature of an object, comprising the steps of: inducing an eddy current in a conducting member forming a part of or in operative thermal communication with said object, said eddy current induced by subjecting said conducting member to a magnetic field generated by a field generating coil and having a magnitude which varies substantially linearly over time, such that the corresponding eddy current magnitude changes exponentially over time and thereby generates a corresponding eddy current-induced magnetic field; determining a characteristic time constant of said eddy current magnitude changes, said time constant-determining step comprising the steps of using a receiving coil assembly to detect said corresponding eddy current-induced magnetic field, said receiving coil assembly operable to generate an output voltage in response to said eddy current-induced magnetic field, and using said output voltage to determine said characteristic time constant; and calculating the temperature of said object using said characteristic time constant.