diff --git a/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/__init__.py b/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/__init__.py
index af356dd..92aa109 100644
--- a/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/__init__.py
+++ b/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/__init__.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ from ._markitdown import (
     PRIORITY_SPECIFIC_FILE_FORMAT,
     PRIORITY_GENERIC_FILE_FORMAT,
 )
-from ._base_converter import DocumentConverterResult, DocumentConverter
+from ._base_converter import DocumentConverterResult, AsyncDocumentConverterResult, DocumentConverter
 from ._stream_info import StreamInfo
 from ._exceptions import (
     MarkItDownException,
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ __all__ = [
     "MarkItDown",
     "DocumentConverter",
     "DocumentConverterResult",
+    "AsyncDocumentConverterResult",
     "MarkItDownException",
     "MissingDependencyException",
     "FailedConversionAttempt",
diff --git a/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/_base_converter.py b/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/_base_converter.py
index 2f0ca9d..9fbd32b 100644
--- a/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/_base_converter.py
+++ b/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/_base_converter.py
@@ -1,7 +1,4 @@
-import os
-import tempfile
-from warnings import warn
-from typing import Any, Union, BinaryIO, Optional, List
+from typing import Any, BinaryIO, Optional, Awaitable
 from ._stream_info import StreamInfo
 
 
@@ -41,6 +38,14 @@ class DocumentConverterResult:
         """Return the converted Markdown text."""
         return self.markdown
 
+class AsyncDocumentConverterResult:
+    """The result of converting a document to Markdown."""
+
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        text_content: Awaitable[str],
+    ):
+        self.text_content = text_content
 
 class DocumentConverter:
     """Abstract superclass of all DocumentConverters."""
diff --git a/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/_markitdown.py b/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/_markitdown.py
index 682902b..b5278f2 100644
--- a/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/_markitdown.py
+++ b/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/_markitdown.py
@@ -1,11 +1,9 @@
-import copy
 import mimetypes
 import os
 import re
 import sys
 import shutil
-import tempfile
-import warnings
+import asyncio
 import traceback
 import io
 from dataclasses import dataclass
@@ -600,6 +598,9 @@ class MarkItDown:
                     finally:
                         file_stream.seek(cur_pos)
 
+                if asyncio.iscoroutine(res):
+                    return res
+
                 if res is not None:
                     # Normalize the content
                     res.text_content = "\n".join(
diff --git a/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/converters/_image_converter.py b/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/converters/_image_converter.py
index dd8fbac..185eac4 100644
--- a/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/converters/_image_converter.py
+++ b/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/converters/_image_converter.py
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
-from typing import BinaryIO, Any, Union
-import base64
-import mimetypes
+from typing import BinaryIO, Any
+import asyncio
 from ._exiftool import exiftool_metadata
-from .._base_converter import DocumentConverter, DocumentConverterResult
+from .._base_converter import DocumentConverter, DocumentConverterResult, AsyncDocumentConverterResult
 from .._stream_info import StreamInfo
+from ._llm_caption import llm_caption
 
 ACCEPTED_MIME_TYPE_PREFIXES = [
     "image/jpeg",
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ class ImageConverter(DocumentConverter):
         llm_client = kwargs.get("llm_client")
         llm_model = kwargs.get("llm_model")
         if llm_client is not None and llm_model is not None:
-            llm_description = self._get_llm_description(
+            llm_description = llm_caption(
                 file_stream,
                 stream_info,
                 client=llm_client,
@@ -77,62 +77,14 @@ class ImageConverter(DocumentConverter):
                 prompt=kwargs.get("llm_prompt"),
             )
 
+            if asyncio.iscoroutine(llm_description):
+                return AsyncDocumentConverterResult(
+                    llm_description,
+                )
+
             if llm_description is not None:
                 md_content += "\n# Description:\n" + llm_description.strip() + "\n"
 
         return DocumentConverterResult(
             markdown=md_content,
-        )
-
-    def _get_llm_description(
-        self,
-        file_stream: BinaryIO,
-        stream_info: StreamInfo,
-        *,
-        client,
-        model,
-        prompt=None,
-    ) -> Union[None, str]:
-        if prompt is None or prompt.strip() == "":
-            prompt = "Write a detailed caption for this image."
-
-        # Get the content type
-        content_type = stream_info.mimetype
-        if not content_type:
-            content_type, _ = mimetypes.guess_type(
-                "_dummy" + (stream_info.extension or "")
-            )
-        if not content_type:
-            content_type = "application/octet-stream"
-
-        # Convert to base64
-        cur_pos = file_stream.tell()
-        try:
-            base64_image = base64.b64encode(file_stream.read()).decode("utf-8")
-        except Exception as e:
-            return None
-        finally:
-            file_stream.seek(cur_pos)
-
-        # Prepare the data-uri
-        data_uri = f"data:{content_type};base64,{base64_image}"
-
-        # Prepare the OpenAI API request
-        messages = [
-            {
-                "role": "user",
-                "content": [
-                    {"type": "text", "text": prompt},
-                    {
-                        "type": "image_url",
-                        "image_url": {
-                            "url": data_uri,
-                        },
-                    },
-                ],
-            }
-        ]
-
-        # Call the OpenAI API
-        response = client.chat.completions.create(model=model, messages=messages)
-        return response.choices[0].message.content
+        )
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/converters/_llm_caption.py b/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/converters/_llm_caption.py
index b851dc8..9108eab 100644
--- a/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/converters/_llm_caption.py
+++ b/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/converters/_llm_caption.py
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
-from typing import BinaryIO, Any, Union
+from typing import BinaryIO, Any, Union, Awaitable
 import base64
 import mimetypes
+import asyncio
 from .._stream_info import StreamInfo
 
 
 def llm_caption(
     file_stream: BinaryIO, stream_info: StreamInfo, *, client, model, prompt=None
-) -> Union[None, str]:
+) -> Union[None, str, Awaitable[str]]:
     if prompt is None or prompt.strip() == "":
         prompt = "Write a detailed caption for this image."
 
@@ -47,4 +48,9 @@ def llm_caption(
 
     # Call the OpenAI API
     response = client.chat.completions.create(model=model, messages=messages)
+    if asyncio.iscoroutine(response):
+        async def read_content():
+            response = await response
+            return response.choices[0].message.content
+        return read_content()
     return response.choices[0].message.content