Segment, Customer and Geographical Reporting (Details) - USD ($)	3 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2016
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	$ 9,143,000	$ 11,204,000
Gross profit	$ 3,525,000	$ 3,965,000
GM %	39.00%	35.00%
SG&A	$ 3,449,000	$ 3,805,000
Gain on sale of assets	0	(4,000)
Operating income (loss)	76,000	164,000
Depreciation and amortization	311,000	325,000
Capital expenditures	111,000	603,000
Intangibles, net	1,033,000	1,197,000	$ 1,067,000
Goodwill	5,822,000	6,094,000	5,898,000
Total assets	28,252,000	25,636,000	$ 26,369,000
Optics [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	4,405,000	6,214,000
Gross profit	$ 1,574,000	$ 2,110,000
GM %	36.00%	34.00%
SG&A	$ 1,328,000	$ 1,751,000
Gain on sale of assets		4,000
Operating income (loss)	246,000	363,000
Depreciation and amortization	234,000	228,000
Capital expenditures	91,000	565,000
Intangibles, net	474,000	644,000
Goodwill	883,000	1,155,000
Total assets	18,785,000	16,506,000
Contract Research [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	4,738,000	4,990,000
Gross profit	$ 1,951,000	$ 1,855,000
GM %	41.00%	37.00%
SG&A	$ 1,740,000	$ 1,706,000
Gain on sale of assets		0
Operating income (loss)	211,000	149,000
Depreciation and amortization	74,000	80,000
Capital expenditures	0	7,000
Intangibles, net	222,000	256,000
Goodwill	4,939,000	4,939,000
Total assets	8,407,000	8,273,000
Biomedical [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	0	0
Gross profit	$ 0	$ 0
GM %	0.00%	0.00%
SG&A	$ 381,000	$ 348,000
Gain on sale of assets		0
Operating income (loss)	(381,000)	(348,000)
Depreciation and amortization	3,000	17,000
Capital expenditures	20,000	31,000
Intangibles, net	337,000	297,000
Goodwill	0	0
Total assets	$ 1,060,000	$ 857,000