Fair Value Measurements (Narrative) (Details) In Millions, unless otherwise specified			6 Months Ended
Jul. 01, 2011 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 USD ($)	Jul. 01, 2011 Japanese Yen [Member] JPY (¥)	Jul. 01, 2011 Beckman Coulter [Member] USD ($)
Number of Japanese currency swap instruments bought, in thousands			184
Exchange rate of Japanese yen per United States dollar			102.25
Aggregate purchase commitment	$ 190		¥ 15,200
Currency swap agreement	$ 50.0			$ 49.0

Aggregate notional amount of foreign currency derivatives to purchase a foreign currency. Notional amount refers to the number of currency units specified in the foreign currency derivative contract.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 815
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1B
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6935481&loc=SL5580258-113959

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Glossary Notional Amount
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6519104

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 815
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1A
-Subparagraph (d)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6935481&loc=SL5579245-113959

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant