Business Segments and Geographic Information - Additional Information (Detail)	3 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) Customer Segment	Dec. 26, 2015 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Disclosure [Line Items]
Number of reportable segments \| Segment	4
Revenues \| $	$ 734,400,000	$ 695,200,000
Customer represented greater than 10% of consolidated revenues	0	0
Countries with greater than 10% of consolidated revenue \| Customer	0
Number of reportable segments \| Segment	4
Intersegment
Segment Reporting Disclosure [Line Items]
Revenues \| $	$ 0	$ 0

Number of countries with greater than 10% of consolidated revenue

No definition available.

Name:	holx_Numberofcountrieswithgreaterthan10ofconsolidatedrevenue
Namespace Prefix:	holx_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Segment Reporting Disclosure [Line Items]

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	holx_SegmentReportingDisclosureLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	holx_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Number of operating segments. An operating segment is a component of an enterprise: (a) that engages in business activities from which it may earn revenues and incur expenses (including revenues and expenses relating to transactions with other components of the same enterprise), (b) whose operating results are regularly reviewed by the enterprise's chief operating decision maker to make decisions about resources to be allocated to the segment and assess its performance, and (c) for which discrete financial information is available. An operating segment may engage in business activities for which it has yet to earn revenues, for example, start-up operations may be operating segments before earning revenues.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_NumberOfOperatingSegments
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- 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

- Definition

Amount of revenue recognized from goods sold, services rendered, insurance premiums, or other activities that constitute an earning process. Includes, but is not limited to, investment and interest income before deduction of interest expense when recognized as a component of revenue, and sales and trading gain (loss).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 225
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-03.1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=63488584&loc=d3e20235-122688

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_Revenues
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Disclosure of the extent of enterprise reliance on its major customers. For example, includes revenues from transactions with a single external customer amounting to 10 percent or more of the entity's revenues, the total amount of revenues from each such customer, and the identity of the segment or segments reporting the revenues. A group of entities that the entity knows to be under common control generally will be considered a single customer for inclusion in this item. The federal government, a state government, a local government (for example, a county or municipality), or a foreign government each will generally be considered as a single customer for inclusion in this item.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 280
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 42
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=68060357&loc=d3e9054-108599

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_SegmentReportingDisclosureOfMajorCustomers
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ConsolidationItemsAxis=us-gaap_IntersegmentEliminationMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: