La traducción más usual es "agitación con perlas". Pueden verse múltiples páginas que utilizan esta expresión en los resultados de esta búsqueda:

https://www.google.com/search?q="agitación con perlas" "extr...

Coincide con la traducción usual de "bead" como "perla", en inglés técnico, para todo tipo de material (perlas de soldadura, de tergopol, etc.).

Explicación en Wikipedia sobre esta técnica:

"Bead method

A common laboratory-scale mechanical method for cell disruption uses glass, ceramic or steel beads, 0.1 to 2 mm in diameter, mixed with a sample suspended in aqueous media. First developed by Tim Hopkins in the late 1970s, the sample and bead mix is subjected to high level agitation by stirring or shaking. Beads collide with the cellular sample, cracking open the cell to release intercellular components. Unlike some other methods, mechanical shear is moderate during homogenization resulting in excellent membrane or subcellular preparations. The method, often called "beadbeating", works well for all types of cellular material - from spores to animal and plant tissues. It is the most widely used method of yeast lysis, and can yield breakage of well over 50% (up to 95%).[1] It has the advantage over other mechanical cell disruption methods of being able to disrupt very small sample sizes, process many samples at a time with no cross-contamination concerns, and does not release potentially harmful aerosols in the process.

In the simplest example of the method, an equal volume of beads are added to a cell or tissue suspension in a test tube and the sample is vigorously mixed on a common laboratory vortex mixer. While processing times are slow, taking 3-10 times longer than that in specialty shaking machines, it works well for easily disrupted cells and is inexpensive."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_disruption#Bead_method

Nota: este método no tiene nada que ver con "esferas magnéticas", donde se utilizan esferas de hierro recubiertas por resina, y que trabajan de una manera muy distinta respecto al método mecánico de agitación con perlas.