A system and method of effectively measuring a change in a gradient of a magnetic field. The systems include a first magnet and a second magnet mechanically coupled together and aligned along a polarization axis. The first magnet and the second magnet are positioned such that a pair of like magnetic poles of the first magnet and the second magnet face in opposite directions. Further, the first magnet and the second magnet are configured to move along the polarization axis in response to a magnetic field. A sensing system is configured to measure a change in a gradient of the magnetic field based on the movement of the first magnet and second magnet along the polarization axis in response to the magnetic field.

A system and method that can automatically select a frequency of a magnetic field in a magnetic tracking system. A magnetic tracking system emits an alternating magnetic field using a set of three frequencies. In the present approach, a transmitter is capable of generating multiple sets of three frequencies. A processor selects a first set of frequencies to use and causes the receiver to measure the amplitude of the magnetic field at those frequencies. In one embodiment, the frequency set having the lowest energy is selected. The processor then compares an estimated jitter at those frequencies to the actual jitter experienced using the frequencies. If the actual jitter exceeds the estimated jitter by a predetermined amount, the processor switches to a different set of frequencies and causes the receiver to measure the magnetic field at the new set of frequencies. The process may repeat using the additional sets of frequencies.

A current sensor includes at least one primary circuit that is intended to conduct the current to be measured, and a secondary circuit containing at least four Neel-effect® transducers, each having a coil and a superparamagnetic core. The current sensor is designed on the basis of a printed circuit board, the primary circuit including at least two distinct metal tracks that are composed of one and the same metal and connected to one another by a via made of a rivet, of a tube or of an electrolytic deposit of the same metal.

Encapsulation packages for stent-deployable monitoring devices formed of resonator sensors and allowing for magnetic biasing elements that exhibit a targeted impact on the mechanical characteristics of a stent are provided. Encapsulation packages are formed of different types and include a longitudinal shield and curved end on profile for aligning the shield within the deployable stent, the shield having perforations such that a resonator can be positioned adjacent the perforations for allowing particulate within the stent to collect and be measured by the resonator during deployment.

A sensor comprises a housing; and a lead frame comprising at least three elongated leads having an exterior portion extending from the housing; and a magnetic sensor circuit disposed in the housing and connected to the lead frame. The housing comprising at least two recesses or at least two lateral protrusions arranged on two opposite sides of the housing, for allowing the sensor to be mounted to the support. A component assembly comprising said sensor mounted on a support, the support comprising a plurality of first and second posts and a plurality of electrical contacts. A method of producing said component assembly, comprising the step of arranging said sensor with its elongated leads adjacent the first posts, and arranging its lateral protrusions and/or lateral recesses adjacent the second posts, and connecting the elongated leads to the electrical contacts.

A magnetic sensor array device is comprised of an array of magnetic sensors arranged on a common semiconductor substrate to measure the multi-axis magnetic field of an arbitrary sized region at high speed with high spatial resolution and high magnetic resolution. This invention further improves a multi-axis magnetic sensor array device fabricated on a common semiconductor substrate with additional optimizations to provide for variable spatial resolution, variable magnetic resolution, and a novel secret key derivation.

The measuring system comprises a vibration-type measuring sensor, a sensor housing, a magnetic-field detector, and measuring-system electronics electrically coupled both to an oscillation exciter and to oscillation-sensing devices of the measuring sensor. The measuring sensor is inside the sensor housing and the magnetic-field detector is outside the sensor housing. The magnetic-field detector is designed to convert changes in the magnetic field into a magnetic-field signal having an amplitude dependent on a magnetic flux through the magnetic-field detector and/or on an area density of said magnetic flux. The measuring-system electronics are designed to determine, on the basis of oscillation measurement signals of the measuring sensor, the mass-flow-rate measurement values representing the mass flow rate and to at least qualitatively determine, on the basis of the magnetic-field signal, whether an external magnetic field is established inside the measuring sensor.

An external field response distribution visualization device includes: an induction circuit that induces a first field component from each of induction positions; a sensor that senses a field strength at sensing positions for each of the induction positions; and an information processing circuit that generates an image showing an external field response distribution. The information processing circuit: calculates, using the sensing result as a boundary condition, an induction position dependent field function that takes an induction and sensing positions as inputs and outputs the field strength; calculates an imaging function that takes an imaging target position as an input and outputs an image intensity, and is defined based on the strength output from the induction position dependent field function in response to inputting the imaging target position; and generates the image based on the imaging function.

A magnetoresistive Z-axis gradient sensor chip, which is used to detect the gradient in the XY plane of a Z-axis magnetic field component generated by a magnetic medium; the sensor chip comprises a Si substrate, a collection of two or two groups of flux guide devices separated a distance Lg and an arrangement of electrically interconnected magnetoresistive sensor units. The magnetoresistive sensor units are located on the Si substrate and located above or below the edge of the flux guide devices as well; the flux guide devices convert the component of the Z-axis magnetic field into the direction parallel to the surface of the Si substrate along the sensing axis direction of the magnetoresistive sensing units. The magnetoresistive sensor units are electrically interconnected into a half bridge or a full bridge gradiometer arrangement, wherein the opposite bridge arms are separated by distance Lg. This sensor chip can be utilized with a PCB or in combination with a PCB plus back-bias magnet with casing. The sensor measures the Z-axis magnetic field gradient by using magnetoresistive sensors with in-plane sensing axes. This sensor chip has several advantages relative to a Hall Effect sensor device, including smaller size, lower power consumption, and higher magnetic field sensitivity.

There is provided a method for contactless determination of the position of a driven moving portion (4) of an electric motor (2) by means of a plurality of magnetic field sensors (8), wherein the moving portion is movably arranged with respect to a stator (6) and has a plurality of permanent magnets (40) which generate a moving-portion magnetic field having a plurality of periodically spaced apart maxima, and wherein the plurality of magnetic field sensors are arranged along a movement path (43) of the moving portion. The method comprises the following steps: by means of the plurality of magnetic field sensors, determining a plurality of measured values (70) for a momentary magnetic field that is generated by the plurality of permanent magnets and dependent on the position of the moving portion, determining a specific spectral signal component (74) from the plurality of measured values (70), the specific spectral signal component having the spatial frequency corresponding to the distance between adjacent like maxima of the moving-portion magnetic field, and determining the position of the driven moving portion by means of the specific spectral signal component.