The 24-year-old told his teammates of his decision on Wednesday afternoon following training.
Bartram played 103 games for the Demons, with his last game coming in round eight this year. A respected member of the group, Bartram was drafted as a 17-year-old in 2005 and made part of the club's leadership group in 2012.
He has endured significant pain in the knee during the past four seasons but continued to play senior football at a high level managing 59 games during that period.
He played the first eight games in 2012 before being ruled out indefinitely because of the knee.
Melbourne coach Mark Neeld, a Bartram admirer, said he should be proud of the career he carved out, particularly the spirit Bartram has showed whenever faced with adversity.
"He is a player whose achievements in AFL football should not be underestimated," Neeld said.
"He's played under duress for a long time of which you would never know, and he is a self-manager and a self-starter and what you see on the field is also what you see on the training track and around the club.
"We're really sad to see Clint go."
After Bartram informed his teammates, Neeld told the players Bartram represented the endeavour required to play in the AFL. He said at some point Bartram would be able to reflect on what he has achieved with pride.
Bartram has had ongoing discussions with the club about his future since having a cutting-edge surgical procedure on the Gold Coast in August in an attempt to regenerate the growth of healthy cartilage tissue in the knee to allow the joint to function without pain.
He then received injections post-procedure in an attempt to foster the growth of the cartilage. In preparation for the procedure he was forced to put on weight so that fat could be extracted through liposuction to obtain stem cells. He later described the weight gain process as the most difficult thing he had endured.
Bartram will continue his rehabilitation from the procedure but with very little prospect that the recovery would lead to his knee being capable of withstanding the rigours of senior football he has given the game away. He will concentrate on his business interests and rehabilitating his knee.
