"Version: 20181201"--Title page verso.Includes bibliographical references.1. Introduction -- 1.1. General introduction -- 1.2. UMOT in the context of optical contrast imaging -- 1.3. A brief overview of the work2. Localized measurement of dynamics and mechanical properties -- 2.1. Introduction -- 2.2. Theory -- 2.3. Extraction of correlation decay introduced by Brownian particles in the ROI -- …