THIS STUDY WAS AIMED AT SHOWING THAT OPTICAL METHODS CAN BE USED IN NON-INVASIVE, BIOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATIONS TO ASSESS THE EXTENT OF ACUTE CUTANEOUS RADIATION SYNDROME FURTHER TO EXPOSURE TO g RADIATIONS. THE FIRST PART EXPLAINS WHY WE CHOSE POLARIZATION AS CONTRAST AGENT WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THIS STUDY. THE SKIN BEING A HIGHLY SCATTERING MEDIUM, IT LED US TO SELECT THE MUELLER POLARIMETRY, WELL-SUITED FOR SUCH INVESTIGATIONS. THE SECOND PART INTRODUCES THE THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS USED IN THE ANALYSIS OF THE EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS FROM MEASUREMENT OF THE MEDIUM MUELLER MATRIX. BUT, THE MATRIX INTERPRETATION IS NOT IMMEDIATE. WE, THUS, DEVELOPED A DEPOLARIZING AND NON-DEPOLARIZING MUELLER MATRICES DECOMPOSITION AND CLASSIFICATION ALGORITHM, WHICH WAS VALIDATED WITH A SET OF SAMPLES WITH DIFFERENT POLARIMETRIC PROPERTIES. THE THIRD PART DESCRIBES THE POLARIMETER ALONG WITH THE ANGULAR AND SPECTRAL RESULTS OBTAINED WITH IRRADIATED SKIN SAMPLES FREE FROM VISIBLE CLINICAL SIGN. THE ABOVE ALGORITHM ALLOWED US TO EVIDENCE TWO POLARIMETRIC CONTRAST AGENTS, WHICH ALONE OR TOGETHER PERMITTED US TO DIFFERENTIATE AN IRRADIATED SKIN FROM A HEALTHY ONE. THE GOOD CORRELATION OF OUR RESULTS WITH HISTOLOGICAL STUDIES MADE BY BIOLOGIST SCIENTISTS DEMONSTRATES THAT POLARIZATION CAN BE USED AS CONTRAST AGENT AT LOW IRRADIATION RATES. THE LAST PART HIGHLIGHTS THE INTEREST OF COMPLEMENTING POLARIMETRY WITH A COHERENT OPTICAL METHODOLOGY (SPECKLE, OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY) IN ORDER TO LOCALIZE CUTANEOUS LESIONS.
