Change in fair value of warrants for the period which are included in the statement of income (or changes in net assets) in operating expenses; the fair value of which was or is measured on a recurring basis using model-derived valuations in which one or more significant inputs are unobservable in active markets (Level 3).

No definition available.

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended				3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended																							12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2013 Distributor	Dec. 31, 2012 Distributor	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2013 Olympus and Olympus-Cytori [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 BARDA Contract [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 BARDA Contract [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 North America [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 North America [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 North America [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Japan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Japan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Japan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Europe [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Europe [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Europe [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Other countries [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Other countries [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Other countries [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Revenue Recognized [Member] Customer	Dec. 31, 2012 Revenue Recognized [Member] Customer	Dec. 31, 2011 Revenue Recognized [Member] Customer	Dec. 31, 2013 Credit Concentration Risk [Member] Customer	Dec. 31, 2012 Credit Concentration Risk [Member] Customer	Dec. 31, 2011 Credit Concentration Risk [Member] Customer	Dec. 31, 2013 Warrant [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Warrant [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Warrant [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Warrant [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Patents and core technology [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Contractual license rights [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Minimum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Maximum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Letter of Credit [Member]
Cash and Cash Equivalents [Abstract]
Cash and cash equivalents investments with original maturities	$ 4,644,000				$ 6,145,000				$ 4,644,000	$ 6,145,000
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Letter of credit amount required by lease agreement																																									350,000
Restricted cash required to maintained under Lease agreement																																									350,000
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Useful lives of the assets																																							3 years	5 years
Goodwill and Intangibles [Abstract]
Other intangibles, net, Beginning balance				0				192,000	0	192,000
Other intangibles, net, Amortization									(49,000)	(192,000)
Other intangibles, net, Ending balance	9,345,000				0				9,345,000	0	192,000
Goodwill, net, Beginning balance				3,922,000				3,922,000	3,922,000	3,922,000
Goodwill, net, Increase (Decrease)									0	0
Goodwill, net Ending balance	3,922,000				3,922,000				3,922,000	3,922,000	3,922,000
Total goodwill and other intangibles, net	13,267,000				3,922,000				13,267,000	3,922,000
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Useful life (in years)																																					10 years	7 years
Identifiable intangible assets																																						9,394,000
Intangible Assets Arising from Insurance Contracts Acquired in Business Combination, Amortization Expense, Fiscal Year Maturity [Abstract]
2014	67,000								67,000
2015	352,000								352,000
2016	673,000								673,000
2017	1,557,000								1,557,000
2018	3,348,000								3,348,000
Thereafter	3,348,000								3,348,000
Class of Warrant or Right [Line Items]
Fair value of warrants																																	0	418,000	209,000	4,360,000
Change in fair value of warrants									418,000	209,000	4,360,000																						0
Expected term																																		0 years 7 months 10 days
Common stock market price (in dollars per share)																																		$ 2.80
Risk free interest rate (in hundredths)																																		0.11%
Expected volatility (in hundredths)																																		73.88%
Resulting fair value (per warrant) (in dollars per share)																																		$ 0.20
Revenue Recognition [Abstract]
Period of services provided subsequent to date of sale									1 year
Concentration Risk [Line Items]
Number of customers																											1	1	1	2	2	2
Number of distributor									1	1
Concentration risk percentage (in hundredths)									100.00%	100.00%	100.00%				15.00%	13.00%	17.00%	30.00%	50.00%	40.00%	17.00%	23.00%	25.00%	38.00%	14.00%	18.00%	26.00%	12.00%	14.00%	55.00%	39.00%	27.00%
Revenues	2,706,000	1,616,000	1,408,000	1,392,000	3,967,000	1,314,000	1,947,000	1,481,000	7,122,000	8,709,000	7,983,000				1,079,000	1,143,000	1,347,000	2,109,000	4,352,000	3,202,000	1,240,000	2,004,000	1,973,000	2,694,000	1,210,000	1,461,000
Research and Development Arrangements [Line Items]
Deferred revenues, related party	0				638,000				0	638,000		28,311,000
Deferred revenue, related party, revenue recognized				638,000						2,882,000
Costs associated with the development device									17,065,000	13,628,000	10,904,000		106,000,000
Research and development arrangement with federal government, customer funding to offset costs incurred														4,700,000
Research and development arrangement, initial base period														2 years
Equity method ownership interest in joint venture (in hundredths)	50.00%								50.00%
Qualifying expenses entitlement under BARDA contract									4,700,000
Qualifying expenditures related to research									$ 3,053,000	$ 331,000	$ 0
Loss Per Share [Abstract]
Dilutive common shares excluded from the calculations of diluted loss per share (in shares)									17,173,374	17,426,976	19,476,425