Related parties deferred revenue amount as of balance sheet date. Deferred revenue is a liability related to a revenue producing activity for which revenue has not yet been recognized. Generally, an entity records deferred revenue when it receives consideration from a customer before achieving certain criteria that must be met for revenue to be recognized in conformity with GAAP.

No definition available.

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Details) (USD $) Share data in Millions, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended			3 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Oct. 31, 2010
Cash and Cash Equivalents [Abstract]
Cash and cash equivalents investments with original maturities	$ 8,144,000us-gaap_ShortTermInvestments				$ 4,644,000us-gaap_ShortTermInvestments				$ 8,144,000us-gaap_ShortTermInvestments	$ 4,644,000us-gaap_ShortTermInvestments
Goodwill and Intangibles [Abstract]
Other intangibles, net, Beginning balance				9,345,000				0	9,345,000	0
Other intangibles, Acquisition of JV Intangible									255,000	9,394,000
Other intangibles, net, Amortization									(185,000)us-gaap_AmortizationOfIntangibleAssets	(49,000)us-gaap_AmortizationOfIntangibleAssets
Other intangibles, net, Ending balance	9,415,000				9,345,000				9,415,000	9,345,000	0
Goodwill, net, Beginning balance				3,922,000us-gaap_Goodwill				3,922,000us-gaap_Goodwill	3,922,000us-gaap_Goodwill	3,922,000us-gaap_Goodwill
Goodwill, net, Increase (Decrease)									0us-gaap_GoodwillPeriodIncreaseDecrease	0us-gaap_GoodwillPeriodIncreaseDecrease
Goodwill, net Ending balance	3,922,000us-gaap_Goodwill				3,922,000us-gaap_Goodwill				3,922,000us-gaap_Goodwill	3,922,000us-gaap_Goodwill	3,922,000us-gaap_Goodwill
Total goodwill and other intangibles, net	13,337,000				13,267,000				13,337,000	13,267,000
Useful life (in years)									7 years		10 years
Intangible Assets Arising from Insurance Contracts Acquired in Business Combination, Amortization Expense, Fiscal Year Maturity [Abstract]
2015	896,000								896,000
2016	1,267,000								1,267,000
2017	1,774,000								1,774,000
2018	2,306,000								2,306,000
Thereafter	2,883,000								2,883,000
Class of Warrant or Right [Line Items]
Change in fair value of warrants									(369,000)us-gaap_FairValueAdjustmentOfWarrants	(418,000)us-gaap_FairValueAdjustmentOfWarrants	(209,000)us-gaap_FairValueAdjustmentOfWarrants
Exercise price per shares (in dollars per share)	$ 25.00								$ 25.00
Expected term									5 years 3 months 18 days
Common stock market price (in dollars per share)	$ 0.49us-gaap_SharePrice								$ 0.49us-gaap_SharePrice				$ 4.50us-gaap_SharePrice
Risk free interest rate (in hundredths)									1.65%
Expected volatility (in hundredths)									90.00%
Resulting fair value (per warrant) (in dollars per share)	$ 0.38cytx_WarrantFairValue								$ 0.38cytx_WarrantFairValue
Revenue Recognition [Abstract]
Period of services provided subsequent to date of sale									1 year
Concentration Risk [Line Items]
Concentration risk percentage (in hundredths)									100.00%us-gaap_ConcentrationRiskPercentage1	100.00%us-gaap_ConcentrationRiskPercentage1	100.00%us-gaap_ConcentrationRiskPercentage1
Revenues	2,469,000us-gaap_Revenues	518,000us-gaap_Revenues	935,000us-gaap_Revenues	1,031,000us-gaap_Revenues	2,706,000us-gaap_Revenues	1,616,000us-gaap_Revenues	1,408,000us-gaap_Revenues	1,392,000us-gaap_Revenues	4,953,000us-gaap_Revenues	7,122,000us-gaap_Revenues	8,709,000us-gaap_Revenues
Research and Development Arrangements [Line Items]
Deferred revenue, related party, revenue recognized								638,000		0	2,882,000
Costs associated with the development device									15,105,000us-gaap_ResearchAndDevelopmentExpense	17,065,000us-gaap_ResearchAndDevelopmentExpense	13,628,000us-gaap_ResearchAndDevelopmentExpense
Maximum total cost-plus fixed fee	12,100,000cytx_MaximumTotalCostPlusFixedFee								12,100,000cytx_MaximumTotalCostPlusFixedFee
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									2,461,000	3,053,000	331,000
Qualified expenses entitlement under BARDA contract									14,100,000
Qualified expenses related to research									8,300,000cytx_QualifiedExpensesRelatedToResearch
Total expense and expenditure on Initial option									22,400,000
Loss Per Share [Abstract]
Dilutive common shares excluded from the calculations of diluted loss per share (in shares)									43.7	17.2	17.4
Olympus and Olympus-Cytori [Member]
Research and Development Arrangements [Line Items]
Deferred revenues, related party	28,311,000								28,311,000
BARDA Contract [Member]
Research and Development Arrangements [Line Items]
Costs associated with the development device												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
North America [Member]
Concentration Risk [Line Items]
Concentration risk percentage (in hundredths)									18.00%	15.00%	13.00%
Revenues									894,000	1,079,000	1,143,000
Japan [Member]
Concentration Risk [Line Items]
Concentration risk percentage (in hundredths)									62.00%	30.00%	50.00%
Revenues									3,068,000	2,109,000	4,352,000
Europe [Member]
Concentration Risk [Line Items]
Concentration risk percentage (in hundredths)									10.00%	17.00%	23.00%
Revenues									506,000	1,240,000	2,004,000
Other countries [Member]
Concentration Risk [Line Items]
Concentration risk percentage (in hundredths)									10.00%	38.00%	14.00%
Revenues									485,000	2,694,000	1,210,000
Customer Concentration Risk [Member] \| Revenue Recognized [Member]
Concentration Risk [Line Items]
Number of customers									1		1
Number of distributor									3	1
Concentration risk percentage (in hundredths)									52.00%	26.00%	12.00%
Customer Concentration Risk [Member] \| Accounts Receivable [Member]
Concentration Risk [Line Items]
Number of customers										1	2
Number of distributor									3	2	1
Concentration risk percentage (in hundredths)									92.00%	55.00%	39.00%
Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring [Member] \| Level 3 [Member] \| Warrants [Member]
Fair Value, Instruments Classified in Shareholders' Equity Measured on Recurring Basis, Unobservable Input Reconciliation, Calculation [Roll Forward]
Beginning balance				287,000				0	287,000	0
Fair value of warrants allocated from additional paid in capital									421,000	421,000
Decrease in fair value recognized in operating expenses									(134,000)	(134,000)
Ending balance	287,000				287,000				287,000	287,000
Warrant [Member]
Class of Warrant or Right [Line Items]
Fair value of warrants	10,000,000				0				10,000,000	0
Change in fair value of warrants									9,800,000	418,000	209,000
Exercise price per shares (in dollars per share)	$ 0.5771								$ 0.5771
Warrant term									5 years
Minimum [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Useful lives of the assets									3 years
Maximum [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Useful lives of the assets									5 years
Letter of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Letter of credit amount required by lease agreement	350,000								350,000
Restricted cash required to maintained under Lease agreement	$ 350,000								$ 350,000