In order to solve the problems of traditional magnetic bearing displacement sensor with complex structure, poor adaptability, misplacement between detection position and actuator, and poor robustness and practicability of self-sensing method, this paper presents a novel approach for radial displacement detection in magnetic bearing system based on the detection coil. By arranging detection coils around teeth of a magnetic bearing, relative displacement along radial direction between stator and rotor can be achieved. Theory model of the proposed method is built and verified through Simulink simulation. A differential detection scheme is present to improve sensitivity and linearity, and displacement is achieved by detecting the output voltage of the half-bridge detection circuit. Static performance of the proposed method is tested on a platform. And, when the displacement is in the range of -0.3mm to 0.3mm, sensitivity and resolution are 1.2mV/μm and 7μm, respectively, showing the feasibility of displacement detection of the proposed method. The method is simple and robust, and lays a foundation for the realization of compact and reliable magnetic bearing displacement detection. © 2021, Electrical Technology Press Co. Ltd. All right reserved.