Note 14 - Long Term Debt and Financial Instruments Carried at Fair Value - Long Term Debt, Japan (Details) - JAPAN - EDAP Technomed Co Ltd. [Member]	Dec. 31, 2016 JPY (¥)
Loan Four [Member]
Debt Instrument, Face Amount	¥ 55,000,000
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage	1.80%
Loan Three [Member]
Debt Instrument, Face Amount	¥ 10,000,000
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage	2.10%

Face (par) amount of debt instrument at time of issuance.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 835
-SubTopic 30
-Section 55
-Paragraph 8
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64930739&loc=d3e28878-108400

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 835
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64930785&loc=d3e28551-108399

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentFaceAmount
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant