Treatment apparatus and method

Apparatus for treating port wine stains comprised of blood vessels in an area beneath the skin of a patient under treatment, the apparatus comprising:

• a flexible pad having an abutment surface,
• a plurality of skin penetration elements having free ends carried by the pad and projecting from said abutment surface,
• a source of laser radiation,
• means coupling the laser radiation source to each skin penetration element, and
• a plurality of laser beam dispersing tips, one tip located on the free end of each skin penetration element for dispersing said radiation from the tips of the elements, the skin penetration elements being profiled and being held spaced apart from one another by the flexible pad in a pattern thereon such that the radiation generated from the radiation source and produced by each tip overlaps the radiation produced by an adjacent tip to disperse laser radiation in a pattern extending generally parallel to said abutment surface and thereby create a generally laminar radiation pattern below and spaced from the surface of the skin and extending generally at a right angle to the axis of the skin penetration elements, when the pad is applied to the skin in a manner to cause said tips to puncture and penetrate below the surface of the skin, said laminar radiation pattern being sustainable to sufficiently constrict blood vessels in an area below the skin at which the laminar radiation pattern is dispersed for treating the port wine stains.