A handheld electrosurgical generator including a pen, internal controller, signal generator, and RF amplifier. The pen electro-mechanically connects to an electrosurgical needle. The controller is embedded within the pen to control the RF output at the electrosurgical needle tip. An electrosurgical system incorporates the handheld electrosurgical generator along with at least one of a data processing unit and a data entry point in communication with the controller of the handheld electrosurgical generator.