Oscillating electrical energy is delivered to an electrical conductor, such as a wire or a catheter, which is coated circumferentially with a ferromagnetic material in a selected region. With high frequency electrical energy, the ferromegnetic material has a quick response in heating and cooling adjustable by the controllable power delivery. The ferromagnetic material can be used for separating tissue, coagulation, tissue destruction or achieving other desired tissue effects in numerous surgical procedures. Thermal, electrosurgical and mechanical modalities may be combined in a surgical tool. Potentially damaging effects in a first modality may be minimized by using a secondary modality. In one example, thermal hemostatis may thus help electrosurgical applications avoid the adverse tissue effects associated with hemostatic monopolar electrosurgical waveforms while retaining the benefits of using monopolar incising waveforms.