1. A method for validating an alignment of a first and second volume of data obtained during a medical imaging procedure, comprising: selecting one or more points in the first volume and one or more points in the second volume; determining the average distance between the one or more points in the first volume and the one or more points in the second volume; determining a distortion category based on the average distance; and assigning a Q value indicative of the quality of the alignment based on the distortion category.