Exploitation of the speckle field statistics as an aid to diagnosis of the acute irradiation cutaneous syndrome: comparison of biophysical and biological results

The objective of this research thesis is to demonstrate the possibility of using a non-invasive optical method for the in-vivo diagnosis and prognosis of the acute irradiation cutaneous syndrome. The author first describes the choice of an optical investigation method for application in dermatology. A conventional frequency analysis of the speckle field sampling is completed by a stochastic approach in order to extract parameters which characterize speckle patterns. An experimental protocol is then tested in order to better understand the parameter behaviour with respect to some physical properties of synthetic diffusing media. The author then reports the in-vivo application of this method to the acute irradiation cutaneous syndrome in the case of swine. Results obtained on several animals demonstrate the possibility of discrimination between irradiated areas of normal areas several weeks before the emergence of the first clinical signs. The author tries to understand the results obtained on a radiological burn comparing with histological results. A correlation appears between speckle parameters and histological analysis. Results are also compared with those obtained on other tested media