Currently, the mast torque in a rotorcraft mast, such as a helicopter mast, is measured by measuring the rotational phase shift, or torsion, between a precision gear attached to the top of the helicopter mast and an identical precision gear attached to the bottom of the helicopter mast. The rotational phase shift between these two gears, which is caused by the twisting of the helicopter mast, is measured using an inductance device.
Ok simply put.. you attach a small AC motor at the top and at the bottom of the shaft (they're going to be run as small generators)... with no mast torque the AC output waveforms will be in sync, however as soon as there's twisting of the mast, ie the rotor head lags behind the engine end of the shaft due to the resistance forces being applied on the blades the waveforms will go out of sync, and a simple syncroscope can be used to show this..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchroscope