Segment, Customer and Geographical Reporting (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	$ 42,752,832	$ 47,887,150
Gross Profit	18,085,745	19,505,743
SG&A	19,425,766	20,926,935
Impairment of goodwill & long-lived assets	6,829,072	2,284,499
Operating Income (Loss)	(8,169,093)	(3,705,691)
GM %	42.30%	40.70%
Depreciation and Amortization	1,596,451	1,669,719
Capital expenditures	544,902	1,018,213
Intangibles, Net	3,484,583	6,703,305
Goodwill	6,240,983	10,254,160	12,521,971
Total Assets	26,677,226	37,465,428
Contract Research [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	21,888,746	25,273,308
Gross Profit	9,821,711	9,862,413
SG&A	9,345,214	9,523,642
Impairment of goodwill & long-lived assets	0	0
Operating Income (Loss)	476,497	338,771
GM %	44.90%	39.00%
Depreciation and Amortization	316,864	237,623
Capital expenditures	31,439	348,314
Intangibles, Net	332,717	366,853
Goodwill	4,938,625	4,938,625
Total Assets	9,831,209	12,870,151
Optics [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	15,564,766	16,055,952
Gross Profit	5,647,680	5,875,551
SG&A	5,624,291	5,398,350
Impairment of goodwill & long-lived assets	0	0
Operating Income (Loss)	23,389	477,201
GM %	36.30%	36.60%
Depreciation and Amortization	765,018	796,847
Capital expenditures	506,371	462,445
Intangibles, Net	882,296	960,821
Goodwill	1,302,358	1,300,463
Total Assets	12,380,248	11,588,145
Instruments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	5,104,812	6,452,603
Gross Profit	2,421,846	3,684,320
SG&A	3,486,729	5,065,794
Impairment of goodwill & long-lived assets	6,829,072	2,284,499
Operating Income (Loss)	(7,893,955)	(3,665,973)
GM %	47.40%	57.10%
Depreciation and Amortization	454,569	575,246
Capital expenditures	7,092	207,454
Intangibles, Net	2,089,573	5,135,634
Goodwill	0	4,015,072
Total Assets	4,253,926	12,537,403
Biomedical [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	194,508	105,287
Gross Profit	194,508	83,459
SG&A	969,532	939,149
Impairment of goodwill & long-lived assets	0	0
Operating Income (Loss)	(775,024)	(855,690)
GM %	100.00%	79.30%
Depreciation and Amortization	60,000	60,003
Capital expenditures	0	0
Intangibles, Net	179,997	239,997
Goodwill	0	0
Total Assets	$ 211,843	$ 469,729