v2.4.0.6

Business Segments and Geographic Information - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $) | 3 Months Ended | 6 Months Ended |
--- | --- | --- | ---
Mar. 30, 2013 Customer | Mar. 24, 2012 Customer | Mar. 30, 2013 Customer Segment | Mar. 24, 2012 Customer | Sep. 29, 2012 Customer
Segment Reporting [Abstract] |  |  |  |  |
Number of reportable segments |  |  | 4 |  |
Intersegment revenues | $ 0 | $ 0 | $ 0 | $ 0 |
Customers with balances greater than 10% of accounts receivable | 0 |  | 0 |  | 0
Customer represented greater than 10% of consolidated revenues | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Total revenue attributed to foreign countries | $ 153,500,000 | $ 117,500,000 | $ 323,600,000 | $ 235,000,000 |
More than 10% country wise revenue, description |  |  | Other than the United States, no single country accounted for more than 10% of consolidated revenues. |  |

X
- Definition Total revenues earned by the Company from international customers. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | holx_NetRevenuesAttributedToForeignCountries
Namespace Prefix: | holx_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition No Individual Country Other Than United States Represents More Than Ten Percentage Of Net Revenue + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | holx_NoIndividualCountryOtherThanUnitedStatesRepresentsMoreThanTenPercentageOfNetRevenue
Namespace Prefix: | holx_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Number Of Customers Accounting For More Than Ten Percent Of Accounts Receivable + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | holx_NumberOfCustomersAccountingForMoreThanTenPercentOfAccountsReceivable
Namespace Prefix: | holx_
Data Type: | xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Number Of Customers Accounting For More Than Ten Percent Of Revenue + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | holx_NumberOfCustomersAccountingForMoreThanTenPercentOfRevenue
Namespace Prefix: | holx_
Data Type: | xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Number of segments reported by the entity. A reportable segment is a component of an entity for which there is an accounting requirement to report separate financial information on that component in the entity's financial statements. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_NumberOfReportableSegments
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Amount of revenue from transactions with other operating segments of the same entity. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 131 -Paragraph 27 -Subparagraph b -LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_RevenuesFromTransactionsWithOtherOperatingSegmentsOfSameEntity
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_SegmentReportingAbstract
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration