Consolidated Balance Sheets (Parenthetical) - USD ($) $ in Thousands		Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Accounts receivable, allowance for doubtful accounts		$ 332	$ 170
Common shares, par value		$ 1.00	$ 1.00
Common shares, shares authorized		20,000,000	20,000,000
Common shares, shares issued		6,900,000	6,820,000
Common shares, shares outstanding		6,900,000	6,820,000
Assets	[1]	$ 53,184	$ 43,758
Liabilities	[1]	$ 32,520	24,747
Hearing Help Express (HHE) [Member]
Assets			5,159
Liabilities			$ 3,833

[1] Assets of Hearing Help Express (HHE), a consolidated variable interest entity (at the end of 2016), that can only be used to settle obligations of HHE were $5,159 at December 31, 2016. Liabilities of HHE, for which creditors do not have recourse to the general credit of IntriCon, were $3,833 at December 31, 2016.