Method and apparatus are provided for aligning a cradle supported by a table in an imaging system with a gantry scan plane in a bore of the gantry. More particularly, various embodiments provide a laser alignment structure having at least two alignment apertures arranged along an axis of the bore, and an adjustment device configured to adjust a position of the laser so that the laser beam is aligned with the alignment apertures. Highly accurate alignment of the cradle to the gantry scan plane is achieved by utilizing this apparatus in tandem with an imaging-based alignment analysis method.
