Segment, Customer and Geographical Reporting (Details) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2013
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	$ 40,536,000	$ 42,309,000
Gross Profit	$ 15,252,000	$ 16,730,000
GM %	37.60%	39.50%
SG&A	$ 15,296,000	$ 15,333,000
Gain on sale of assets	178,000	1,297,000
Operating Income (Loss)	134,000	2,695,000
Depreciation and Amortization	1,196,000	1,123,000
Capital expenditures	1,310,000	1,448,000
Intangibles, Net	1,225,000	1,383,000
Goodwill	6,131,000	6,247,000	$ 6,241,000
Total Assets	24,516,000	26,377,000
Contract Research [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	18,753,000	21,935,000
Gross Profit	$ 8,176,000	$ 9,301,000
GM %	43.60%	42.40%
SG&A	$ 7,629,000	$ 8,546,000
Gain on sale of assets	0	0
Operating Income (Loss)	547,000	755,000
Depreciation and Amortization	296,000	280,000
Capital expenditures	18,000	12,000
Intangibles, Net	264,000	299,000
Goodwill	4,939,000	4,939,000
Total Assets	7,692,000	8,857,000
Optics [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	21,783,000	19,590,000
Gross Profit	$ 7,076,000	$ 7,100,000
GM %	32.50%	36.20%
SG&A	$ 6,516,000	$ 5,482,000
Gain on sale of assets	178,000	0
Operating Income (Loss)	738,000	1,618,000
Depreciation and Amortization	839,000	781,000
Capital expenditures	1,166,000	1,326,000
Intangibles, Net	678,000	854,000
Goodwill	1,192,000	1,308,000
Total Assets	15,948,000	16,019,000
Instruments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	0	773,000
Gross Profit	$ 0	$ 318,000
GM %	0.00%	41.10%
SG&A	$ 0	$ 527,000
Gain on sale of assets	0	1,297,000
Operating Income (Loss)	0	1,087,000
Depreciation and Amortization	0	2,000
Capital expenditures	0	0
Intangibles, Net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Total Assets	48,000	313,000
Biomedical [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	0	11,000
Gross Profit	$ 0	$ 11,000
GM %	0.00%	100.00%
SG&A	$ 1,151,000	$ 778,000
Gain on sale of assets	0	0
Operating Income (Loss)	(1,151,000)	(765,000)
Depreciation and Amortization	61,000	60,000
Capital expenditures	119,000	110,000
Intangibles, Net	283,000	230,000
Goodwill	0	0
Total Assets	$ 828,000	$ 1,188,000