CURRENT PROSTHESES FOR shoulder disarticulation amputees are very difficult to control. This is due to the fact that there are many joints lost, and few control input options available. For an externally-powered system the most common types of control are to use myoelectric signals from the chest and back muscles, or to use switches operated with the chin and remnant shoulder. An example of a conventional myoelectric control for an externally powered prosthesis would be to use the pectoralis major to close the hand and supraspinatus to open the hand. A chin switch would then toggle through the controls so that these same 2 muscles operate the wrist rotator and elbow. The operation of each DOF controlled sequentially is slow and tedious. Furthermore, these control inputs are not physiologically mapped to the function (eg, shoulder movement and/or pectoralis contractions do not naturally correspond to hand movement), making operation of the artificial arm difficult for people with these high-level amputations