Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies cont'd (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended																								3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended								12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2012 Cost of Professional Product Revenue [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cost of Professional Product Revenue [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Cost of Professional Product Revenue [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cost of Service Revenues [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cost of Service Revenues [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Cost of Service Revenues [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Research and Development Expense [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Research and Development Expense [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Research and Development Expense [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Selling and Marketing Expense [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Selling and Marketing Expense [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Selling and Marketing Expense [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 General and Administrative Expense [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 General and Administrative Expense [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 General and Administrative Expense [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Stock Appreciation Rights (SARs) [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Stock Appreciation Rights (SARs) [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Stock Appreciation Rights (SARs) [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Restricted Stock Awards [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Restricted Stock Awards [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Restricted Stock Awards [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Restricted Stock Units [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Restricted Stock Units [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Restricted Stock Units [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Restricted Stock Units [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Performance Shares [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Performance Shares [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Performance Shares [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Land [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Land [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Building [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Building [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Machinery and Equipment [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Machinery and Equipment [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Furniture and Fixtures [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Furniture and Fixtures [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Leasehold Improvements [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Leasehold Improvements [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Short-term Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Short-term Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Other Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Other Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Other Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Minimum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Minimum [Member] Machinery and Equipment [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Minimum [Member] Short-term Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Maximum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Maximum [Member] Machinery and Equipment [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Maximum [Member] Short-term Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Commercial Paper [Member] Short-term Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Commercial Paper [Member] Short-term Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Commercial Paper [Member] Minimum [Member] Short-term Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Commercial Paper [Member] Minimum [Member] Short-term Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Commercial Paper [Member] Maximum [Member] Short-term Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Commercial Paper [Member] Maximum [Member] Short-term Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 U.S. Agency Bonds [Member] Short-term Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 U.S. Agency Bonds [Member] Short-term Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 U.S. Agency Bonds [Member] Other Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 U.S. Agency Bonds [Member] Other Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 U.S. Agency Bonds [Member] Minimum [Member] Short-term Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 U.S. Agency Bonds [Member] Minimum [Member] Short-term Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 U.S. Agency Bonds [Member] Minimum [Member] Other Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 U.S. Agency Bonds [Member] Minimum [Member] Other Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 U.S. Agency Bonds [Member] Maximum [Member] Short-term Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 U.S. Agency Bonds [Member] Maximum [Member] Short-term Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 U.S. Agency Bonds [Member] Maximum [Member] Other Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 U.S. Agency Bonds [Member] Maximum [Member] Other Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Corporate Bonds [Member] Short-term Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Corporate Bonds [Member] Short-term Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Corporate Bonds [Member] Other Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Corporate Bonds [Member] Minimum [Member] Short-term Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Corporate Bonds [Member] Minimum [Member] Other Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Corporate Bonds [Member] Maximum [Member] Short-term Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Corporate Bonds [Member] Maximum [Member] Other Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 U.S. Treasuries [Member] Short-term Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 U.S. Treasuries [Member] Other Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 U.S. Treasuries [Member] Other Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 U.S. Treasuries [Member] Minimum [Member] Short-term Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 U.S. Treasuries [Member] Minimum [Member] Other Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 U.S. Treasuries [Member] Maximum [Member] Short-term Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 U.S. Treasuries [Member] Maximum [Member] Other Investments [Member]
Schedule of Held-to-maturity Securities [Line Items]
ARS failed at auction sold		$ 0	$ 900,000	$ 2,100,000
Amortized cost basis of holdings ARS		1,300,000	1,300,000
Unrealized gain (loss) on marketable securities, net of taxes		7,200	69,190	(54,795)																																									0	69,000	(55,000)
Cumulative temporary impairment net of taxes on ARS		200,000
Maturity term																																																		3 months			1 year			1 month 6 days	9 days	6 months	7 months 6 days					2 months 12 days	13 days	1 year 4 months 24 days	1 year 2 months 12 days	10 months 24 days	8 months 12 days	1 year 9 months 18 days	1 year 10 months 24 days		7 months 6 days		1 month 6 days	1 year 1 month 6 days	7 months 6 days	1 year 7 months 6 days			1 year 7 months 6 days	6 months	1 year 3 months 18 days	9 months 18 days	1 year 7 months 6 days
Components of marketable securities and other investments [Abstract]
Held-to-maturity other investments		10,535,741	20,270,954																																								33,057,835	24,739,998	10,500,000	20,300,000								9,000,000	18,700,000					8,000,000	4,000,000	6,000,000	8,100,000									10,100,000	2,000,000	10,200,000					6,000,000	4,500,000	2,000,000
Auction-rate securities																																													997,349	997,823
Marketable securities and other investments		11,533,090	21,268,777																																										11,533,090	21,268,777
Accounts receivable allowance activity [Abstract]
Balance at beginning of year		796,610	833,199	786,797
Additions		814,761	308,302	407,961
Write-offs/deductions		(622,664)	(344,891)	(361,559)
Balance at end of year		988,707	796,610	833,199
Inventories [Abstract]
Raw materials		8,475,918	10,068,589
Work in process		1,795,986	1,217,968
Finished goods		11,313,003	9,889,197
Total		21,584,907	21,175,754
Inventory charge related to excess consumer product inventory		3,800,000	0	0
Demonstration products in finished goods		3,200,000	2,700,000
Consumer product inventory held on consignment in finished goods		300,000	800,000
Consumer Product Inventory, Net of Reserves		700,000	5,300,000
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property and equipment, gross		44,988,179	44,353,481																														10,680,000	10,680,000	24,505,574	24,505,574	3,496,347	3,231,920	6,210,158	5,836,744	96,100	99,243
Less accumulated depreciation		9,103,151	7,639,903
Property, Plant and Equipment, Net		35,885,028	36,713,578
Estimated useful life																																			39 years				7 years										3 years			7 years
Estimated useful life description																																									Shorter of estimated useful life or term of lease
Revenue Recognition, Multiple-deliverable Arrangements [Line Items]
Period for licensees payments																																																30 days			45 days
Previous TTP Quarterly Payment		1,250,000		1,250,000
Amended TTP quarterly payment		1,000,000		1,000,000
Annual amount of TTP Quarterly payments for an agreed period		2,000,000		2,000,000
Additional TTP Quarterly Payment	1,000,000
Reimbursement of shipping and handling costs		291,000	288,000	260,000
Shipping and handling costs		693,000	465,000	207,000
Product Warranty Costs [Abstract]
Warranty period		1 year
Change in product warranty accrual [Abstract]
Warranty accrual, beginning of year		785,412	529,374
Charged to costs and expenses relating to new sales		2,026,290	1,226,017
Costs of product warranty claims\change in estimate		(1,826,130)	(969,979)
Warranty accrual, end of year		985,572	785,412	529,374
Advertising costs [Abstract]
Advertising expense		1,500,000	1,200,000	400,000
Reconciliation of basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding [Abstract]
Basic weighted average common shares outstanding (in shares)		18,863,708	18,695,612	18,548,548
Potential common shares pursuant to stock options, SARs and RSAs (in shares)		0	246,404	0
Diluted weighted average common shares outstanding (in shares)		18,863,708	18,942,016	18,548,548
Antidilutive securities excluded from computation of earnings per share (in shares)		2,600,000	2,400,000	2,600,000
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Stock-based compensation expense		$ 2,600,000	$ 3,600,000	$ 3,800,000	$ 200,000	$ 200,000	$ 200,000	$ 100,000	$ 200,000	$ 200,000	$ 900,000	$ 1,500,000	$ 1,800,000	$ 800,000	$ 1,000,000	$ 900,000	$ 600,000	$ 700,000	$ 700,000
SARs granted (in shares)		393,000	470,250	307,000																0	0	8,000	393,000	470,250	307,000		0	45,000	0	80,000	0	0
Restricted stock granted (in shares)		393,000	470,250	307,000																0	0	8,000	393,000	470,250	307,000		0	45,000	0	80,000	0	0
Vesting period																				4 years			4 years				4 years
Vesting period description																				one-third vesting on the second, third, and fourth anniversaries of the date of grant			one-quarter vesting on each of the next four anniversaries of the date of grant			one-quarter vesting on each of the next four anniversaries of the date of grant				If the Company's consolidated revenue exceeds $100 million (the "Target") for any trailing four quarter period between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2016, the PBRSAs will vest on the date which is the earlier of (i) the quarterly financial earnings release for the quarter that the Target has been achieved or (ii) a determination by the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors that the Target has been achieved.
Weighted-average assumptions of options [Abstract]
Risk-free interest rate (in hundredths)		0.00%	0.00%	1.66%
Expected dividend yield (in hundredths)		0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
Expected lives				3 years
Expected volatility (in hundredths)		0.00%	0.00%	60.00%
Grant date fair value of awards granted during period (in dollars per share)		$ 0	$ 0	$ 6.17
Annual estimated forfeiture rate (in hundredths)		3.00%