Apparatus for Monitoring the Content of a Container and Method Therefor

An apparatus for monitoring a content of a chamber of a container, the apparatus comprising:

• a liner that comprises a first plurality of electrodes that includes more than two electrodes, the liner being dimensioned and arranged to locate the first plurality of electrodes such that they are electrically coupled with the content;
• and
• electronic circuitry that is operative for:
• (1) performing a first measurement of a distribution of a first characteristic of the content at a first time via a technique selected from the group consisting of electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) and acoustic imaging, wherein the first characteristic is selected from the group consisting of permittivity and acoustic impedance wherein the first measurement includes:
• (i) generating a first plurality of stimulus signals, each stimulus signal of the first plurality thereof being generated between a different pair of electrodes of the first plurality thereof;
• (ii) for each stimulus signal of the first plurality thereof, measuring a response signal at each other electrode of the first plurality thereof to define a first response-signal set, wherein the first plurality of stimulus signals and the plurality of first response-signal sets have a one-to-one correspondence;
• and
• (iii) generating a first map of the three-dimensional distribution of the first characteristic of the content within the chamber based on the first plurality of stimulus signals and the plurality of first response-signal sets;
• and p1 (2) determining a first quantity of the content at the first time based on the first map of the three-dimensional distribution.