Segment, Customer and Geographical Reporting (Details) - USD ($)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	$ 10,239,000	$ 10,641,000	$ 29,745,000	$ 31,758,000
Gross Profit	4,218,000	3,870,000	11,485,000	12,597,000
Gain (Loss) on sale of assets	(8,000)	30,000	178,000	1,217,000
Operating Income (Loss)	475,000	156,000	62,000	2,237,000
Depreciation and Amortization			898,000	809,000
Capital expenditures			747,000	879,000
Intangibles, Net	1,252,000		1,252,000		$ 1,383,000
Goodwill	6,191,000		6,191,000		6,247,000
Total Assets	26,883,000		26,883,000		$ 26,377,000
Results Of Operations For Three Months Ended Period [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	10,239,000	10,641,000
Gross Profit	$ 4,218,000	$ 3,870,000
GM %	41.20%	36.40%
SG&A	$ 3,735,000	$ 3,744,000
Gain (Loss) on sale of assets	(8,000)	30,000
Operating Income (Loss)	475,000	156,000
Depreciation and Amortization	312,000	275,000
Capital expenditures	291,000	1,937,000
Intangibles, Net	1,252,000	1,333,000	1,252,000	1,333,000
Goodwill	6,191,000	6,333,000	6,191,000	6,333,000
Total Assets	26,883,000	26,471,000	26,883,000	26,471,000
Results Of Operations For Nine Months Ended Period [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue			29,745,000	31,758,000
Gross Profit			$ 11,485,000	$ 12,597,000
GM %			38.60%	39.70%
SG&A			$ 11,601,000	$ 11,577,000
Gain (Loss) on sale of assets			178,000	1,217,000
Operating Income (Loss)			62,000	2,237,000
Depreciation and Amortization			898,000	809,000
Capital expenditures			747,000	2,618,000
Intangibles, Net	1,252,000	1,333,000	1,252,000	1,333,000
Goodwill	6,191,000	6,333,000	6,191,000	6,333,000
Total Assets	26,883,000	26,471,000	26,883,000	26,471,000
Contract Research [Member] | Results Of Operations For Three Months Ended Period [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	4,626,000	5,461,000
Gross Profit	$ 2,027,000	$ 2,121,000
GM %	43.80%	38.80%
SG&A	$ 1,934,000	$ 2,057,000
Gain (Loss) on sale of assets	0	0
Operating Income (Loss)	93,000	64,000
Depreciation and Amortization	74,000	70,000
Capital expenditures	0	0
Intangibles, Net	273,000	307,000	273,000	307,000
Goodwill	4,939,000	4,939,000	4,939,000	4,939,000
Total Assets	9,462,000	9,451,000	9,462,000	9,451,000
Contract Research [Member] | Results Of Operations For Nine Months Ended Period [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue			13,964,000	16,915,000
Gross Profit			$ 6,077,000	$ 7,093,000
GM %			43.50%	41.90%
SG&A			$ 5,712,000	$ 6,439,000
Gain (Loss) on sale of assets			0	0
Operating Income (Loss)			365,000	654,000
Depreciation and Amortization			222,000	209,000
Capital expenditures			4,000	12,000
Intangibles, Net	273,000	307,000	273,000	307,000
Goodwill	4,939,000	4,939,000	4,939,000	4,939,000
Total Assets	9,462,000	9,451,000	9,462,000	9,451,000
Optics [Member] | Results Of Operations For Three Months Ended Period [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	5,613,000	5,172,000
Gross Profit	$ 2,191,000	$ 1,741,000
GM %	39.00%	33.70%
SG&A	$ 1,565,000	$ 1,516,000
Gain (Loss) on sale of assets	(8,000)	0
Operating Income (Loss)	618,000	225,000
Depreciation and Amortization	223,000	190,000
Capital expenditures	270,000	1,937,000
Intangibles, Net	722,000	893,000	722,000	893,000
Goodwill	1,252,000	1,394,000	1,252,000	1,394,000
Total Assets	16,615,000	16,053,000	16,615,000	16,053,000
Optics [Member] | Results Of Operations For Nine Months Ended Period [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue			15,781,000	14,059,000
Gross Profit			$ 5,408,000	$ 5,175,000
GM %			34.30%	36.80%
SG&A			$ 5,150,000	$ 4,030,000
Gain (Loss) on sale of assets			178,000	0
Operating Income (Loss)			436,000	1,145,000
Depreciation and Amortization			631,000	551,000
Capital expenditures			666,000	2,606,000
Intangibles, Net	722,000	893,000	722,000	893,000
Goodwill	1,252,000	1,394,000	1,252,000	1,394,000
Total Assets	16,615,000	16,053,000	16,615,000	16,053,000
Instruments [Member] | Results Of Operations For Three Months Ended Period [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	0	0
Gross Profit	$ 0	$ 0
GM %	0.00%	0.00%
SG&A	$ 0	$ (10,000)
Gain (Loss) on sale of assets	0	30,000
Operating Income (Loss)	0	40,000
Depreciation and Amortization	0	0
Capital expenditures	0	0
Intangibles, Net	0	0	0	0
Goodwill	0	0	0	0
Total Assets	50,000	335,000	50,000	335,000
Instruments [Member] | Results Of Operations For Nine Months Ended Period [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue			0	773,000
Gross Profit			$ 0	$ 318,000
GM %			0.00%	41.10%
SG&A			$ 0	$ 529,000
Gain (Loss) on sale of assets			0	1,217,000
Operating Income (Loss)			0	1,006,000
Depreciation and Amortization			0	2,000
Capital expenditures			0	0
Intangibles, Net	0	0	0	0
Goodwill	0	0	0	0
Total Assets	50,000	335,000	50,000	335,000
Biomedical [Member] | Results Of Operations For Three Months Ended Period [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	0	8,000
Gross Profit	$ 0	$ 8,000
GM %	0.00%	100.00%
SG&A	$ 236,000	$ 181,000
Gain (Loss) on sale of assets	0	0
Operating Income (Loss)	(236,000)	(173,000)
Depreciation and Amortization	15,000	15,000
Capital expenditures	21,000	0
Intangibles, Net	257,000	133,000	257,000	133,000
Goodwill	0	0	0	0
Total Assets	756,000	632,000	756,000	632,000
Biomedical [Member] | Results Of Operations For Nine Months Ended Period [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue			0	11,000
Gross Profit			$ 0	$ 11,000
GM %			0.00%	100.00%
SG&A			$ 739,000	$ 579,000
Gain (Loss) on sale of assets			0	0
Operating Income (Loss)			(739,000)	(568,000)
Depreciation and Amortization			45,000	47,000
Capital expenditures			77,000	0
Intangibles, Net	257,000	133,000	257,000	133,000
Goodwill	0	0	0	0
Total Assets	$ 756,000	$ 632,000	$ 756,000	$ 632,000