For years, people searching for the proper organ donor have waited and hoped that the right match will come along sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, hundreds of people die each year waiting for an organ that never comes. But now, the future of tissue-engineering is looking bright. With 3D printing technologies evolving faster than anyone could have imagined, there may be an alternative solution to playing the waiting game.

By the year 2020, the 3D printing market in health-care will be valued at $1.1 billion, according to Grand View Research. 3D printing is now capable of producing human cells and tissues fibers - the miraculous building blocks of future bio-printed human organs.

The number of patients needing organs have doubled in the past ten years, but available organs has stayed about the same according to surgeon Anthony Atala from the Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine. As the aging population will only continue to grow in the coming years, if the number of available organs does not grow along side of it, then perhaps it’s time to grow our own.

With the right formula, robots can now produce human tissue. Early this year, researchers from Harvard and Sydney universities developed a technique that successfully produces self-sufficient cells. Layer by layer the cells are added, ultimately creating the shape of the desired structure. That structure for now is a human capillary.

Creating 3D printed capillaries is the first step in allowing for cells to create the nutrients needed to survive on their own. While printing entire, functioning organs is still in need of some major developments, these printed blood vessels are a major step toward the future of “bio-printing.” By establishing the foundation of self-sustaining cells, researchers can continue to move forward with developing long-term, surviving organs.

Organovo is a company that is strictly dedicated to the development of bio-printers. The San Diego-based company is the leader in the 3D bio-printing world, combining engineering and the study of human biology. This year, the company printed a human liver for research purposes and will continue to make strides in the world of bio-printing.

For years, Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine has also been working on 3D printing technologies - technologies that could even print bio-structures directly onto the patient. The process happens while the patient lays on a bed and a scanner analyzes and corrects the wound by layering cells where they are needed. The researchers are also working on using the patient’s cells in order to limit the chance of the body rejecting the repairs.

3D printing organs won’t be the first time that the technology has helped in the world of human health-care. To date, 3D printing has produced a number of other substitute body parts. From functioning Robohands that have enabled hundreds of people worldwide to exoskeletons that help paraplegics to regain function in their bodies, the possibilities of 3D printing are seemingly endless.

While these products are being 3D printed, they still have a way to go before their mechanical form feels human. The bio-printing of human tissue could be a driving force in the humanization of these body parts.

For the thousands of people who may otherwise die while waiting for organ transplants, the revolutionary developments in 3D printing could be the life-saving solution we’ve been searching for.