Segment, Customer and Geographical Reporting (Details) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2014
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	$ 43,442,000	$ 40,536,000
Gross profit	$ 15,603,000	$ 14,994,000
GM %	36.00%	37.00%
SG&A	$ 14,928,000	$ 15,038,000
Gain on sale of assets	(4,000)	(178,000)
Operating income (loss)	679,000	134,000
Depreciation and amortization	1,267,000	1,196,000
Capital expenditures	2,044,000	1,383,000
Intangibles, net	1,067,000	1,225,000
Goodwill	5,898,000	6,131,000	$ 6,247,000
Total assets	26,369,000	24,504,000
Optics [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	23,686,000	21,783,000
Gross profit	$ 8,010,000	$ 6,818,000
GM %	34.00%	31.00%
SG&A	$ 6,239,000	$ 6,020,000
Gain on sale of assets	(4,000)	(178,000)
Operating income (loss)	1,775,000	976,000
Depreciation and amortization	949,000	839,000
Capital expenditures	1,503,000	1,173,000
Intangibles, net	517,000	678,000
Goodwill	959,000	1,192,000
Total assets	17,397,000	15,984,000
Contract Research [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	19,756,000	18,753,000
Gross profit	$ 7,593,000	$ 8,176,000
GM %	38.00%	44.00%
SG&A	$ 6,619,000	$ 7,301,000
Gain on sale of assets	0	0
Operating income (loss)	974,000	875,000
Depreciation and amortization	249,000	296,000
Capital expenditures	432,000	91,000
Intangibles, net	230,000	264,000
Goodwill	4,939,000	4,939,000
Total assets	8,325,000	7,692,000
Biomedical [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	0	0
Gross profit	$ 0	$ 0
GM %	0.00%	0.00%
SG&A	$ 2,070,000	$ 1,717,000
Gain on sale of assets	0	0
Operating income (loss)	(2,070,000)	(1,717,000)
Depreciation and amortization	69,000	61,000
Capital expenditures	109,000	119,000
Intangibles, net	320,000	283,000
Goodwill	0	0
Total assets	$ 647,000	$ 828,000