How to section a skull in half

[Dr. Mike]

Here is a message I recently received. I am posting my reply in hopes it will help others.
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QUESTION:

My name is ___________ and I am a student at the University of Missouri, attempting to print 3D images from CT scans. I have found your video extremely helpful and had a question if you don't mind about blender. My question is that lets say I want just the left half of the skull. How can I cut the skull down the middle, select the right side and delete. I have tried to find Blender YouTube tutorials about this but none of them have been helpful. It would be great if I could get your opinion on the matter. Would that be possible? 

 

Thank you so much for your time!

Truly enjoyed the tutorial a lot!

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ANSWER:

The best way is to subtract the side you don't want by using a boolean operator. Start by creating basic shape, such as a cube, and scale it up so that it is bigger than the skull. Then, position the cube over the portion of the skull you want deleted. Then, with the skull selected, select the boolean modifier, choose difference, and the target should be the cube. Everthing that intersects with the cube should be gone. Be sure to accept the changes the modifier made. Good luck!

[kopachini]

I agree with dr. Mike.

Try also in Meshmixer plane cut option. Just simply choose which side you want to cut and cut it (you will find some videos on youtube how to use plane cut in Meshmixer).

[Terrie S]

You can also use the EasyClip tool in 3DSlicer:

import your CT volume and your 3D model (or even just your 3D model), then you can use the CT slices as planes to indicate where you want to cut--you can still rotate them if needed. You can save the half you want and even "undo" and save the other side (similar to Meshmixer). 

 

Slicer is especially handy if you have landmark coordinates and want to place a cut exactly at a specific coordinate, for example if you have oriented models and nasion is at x = 0--you can type this in to the appropriate slice view (red, yellow, green).