return base64 encoded images directly from a web api core endpoint

I have seen these SO answers:

• Return an image from asp.net web api core as IActionResult
• Response.Body.WriteAsync base64 string not working

but these either serve physical files directly or serve from a byte array.

Please is there a way for our Web API Endpoint to return content-type: image/png directly from data:image/png;base64,(our base64 string)