The purpose of this work is to develop a method to image optoacoustic sources in solid media. To analyze the influence of the source geometry on laser-generated acoustic waves and thus qualitatively predict if the image of the source can be obtained with sufficient accuracy, the directivity of an acoustic source is considered first. In order to quantify more precisely this influence, the complete resolution of the propagation of acoustic waves generated by this source is then achieved. The analysis of the effect of oblique incidence of a laser beam in the photoacoustic generation process is proposed as an illustration. The second part of this thesis is devoted to the inverse problem resolution, which provides the image of the initial acoustic source. A backpropagation algorithm is then implemented. It is based on the time-reversal principle and the Huygens' principle, and simulates, in a solid medium, the propagation of the measured acoustic waves back to the initial position of the acoustic source.
