Thermometry probe calibration method

1. A method for calibrating a temperature probe for a thermometry apparatus, said method comprising the steps of:

characterizing the preheating data of a temperature probe used with said apparatus;

comparing the characterized preheating data of said temperature probe to that of a nominal temperature probe and normalizing said characterized preheating data based on said comparing step;

storing the normalized preheating data on an EEPROM associated with said apparatus; and

applying the stored normalized preheating data into an algorithm for preheating the probe to a predetermined temperature so as to calibrate said temperature probe.

2. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein said characterizing step includes the additional step of measuring a probe heater gain of said temperature probe, said probe heater gain representing the efficiency of a pre-heating circuit of said probe wherein said probe heater gain is compared to that of a nominal probe's similar heating characteristic, said probe heater gain measuring step including the step of pulsing a predetermined voltage to said probe and measuring a temperature rise DELTA. T to the peak of a resulting temperature curve for said probe, said comparing and normalizing step including the step of calculating a probe-specific ratio of .DELTA.T and a DELTA.Tref between the two temperature rises of said probe and a nominal probe, said storing step including the additional step of storing said probe-specific ratio on said EEPROM and applying the probe-specific ratio into said pre-heating algorithm.